Why is steel used in railway tracks?

A steel rail is defined by its cross-sectional profile, consisting of the head, web, and foot, engineered to resist bending, wear, and environmental stresses. As a supplier, GNEE RAIL provides rails in a variety of profiles, including DIN536, UIC, BS11:1985, and AREMA/ASCE models etc. Our services include customized length production, welding or joining solutions, and technical advice on load-bearing optimization, ensuring the rails meet both industrial and transportation requirements.

 

Why is steel used in railway tracks?

 

Steel is used in railway tracks because it provides the best combination of strength, durability, wear resistance, and cost efficiency required for long-term, heavy-duty rail operations. From both an engineering and economic standpoint, steel is the most suitable material for rails. The main reasons are as follows.

 

First, steel has very high load-bearing capacity and fatigue strength. Railway rails must carry repeated axle loads from trains that can exceed tens of tons per wheel, millions of times over their service life. High-carbon and alloy rail steels such as U71Mn, U75V, and R260/R350HT are designed to resist fatigue cracking and plastic deformation, which is essential for maintaining track geometry and preventing failures.

 

 

Grade	Standard / Region	Typical Composition (wt%)
R260	EN 13674-1 (Europe)	C: 0.67–0.80, Mn: 0.90–1.20, Si: ≤0.50
R350HT	EN 13674-1 (Europe)	C: 0.75–0.85, Mn: 0.80–1.20, Cr: 0.20–0.50
Grade 260	AREMA (North America)	C: ~0.77, Mn: ~1.0–1.2, Si: ~0.2
Grade 350	AREMA + Mill Specs (USA/Canada)	C: 0.78–0.83, Mn: 0.90–1.20, Cr: 0.2–0.6, + V/Nb (microalloyed)
BH Rail (Bainitic)	JIS E 1101 (Japan), adopted in EU/India	C: 0.65–0.80, Mn: 1.0–1.4, Cr/Mo/Ni (optional, mill-specific)
U71Mn	GB/T 2585 (China)	C: 0.65–0.77, Mn: 1.10–1.40, Si: 0.15–0.35
U75V	GB/T 2585 (China)	C: 0.67–0.77, Mn: 0.70–1.00, V: 0.04–0.12

 

Second, steel offers excellent wear resistance at the wheel–rail contact surface. The contact area between wheel and rail is extremely small, creating very high contact stress. Properly heat-treated steel rails can resist head wear, side wear, and corrugation, extending service life and reducing maintenance costs. This is equally important for crane rails, where concentrated wheel loads and slow, repetitive movements cause severe localized wea

 

Third, steel provides good toughness and impact resistance, which is critical for safety. Rails must tolerate impacts from wheel flats, braking forces, temperature-induced stresses, and dynamic loading at joints and switches. Steel can absorb these shocks without brittle fracture, especially when alloyed and controlled-cooled during production.

 

 

Fourth, steel is suitable for welding and continuous track construction. Modern railways and crane systems rely heavily on flash-butt welding and thermite welding to form long, continuous rails, which improve ride comfort, reduce noise, and minimize maintenance at joints. Steel's metallurgical properties allow strong, reliable welded joints when proper procedures are followed.

 

 

Steel rails also integrate well with fastening systems, rail pads, base plates, and sleepers, forming a complete track structure that can be engineered for different speeds, loads, and environments. GNEE RAIL supply not only train rails and crane rails under multiple international standards, but also matching fasteners, rail clips, pads, and customized technical support, ensuring that the advantages of steel rails are fully realized in real projects.

 

Steel Rail Types

 

The type of rail is classified by kilograms per meter of rail length. For example, steel rails used in China's railways are 75kg/m, 60kg/m, 50kg/m, 43kg/m and 38kg/m.

 

 

• Classified by Application: GNEE RAIL supplies crane rail( QU120,QU100,QU80,QU70), heavy rail( 38, 43, 50, 60, 75kg) and light rail( 9,12,15,22,30kg/m).

 

Classification		Height(mm)	Head (mm)	Bottom (mm)	Thick(mm)	Weight (kg/m)
Light Rail	8 KG/M	65	25	54	7	8.42
	9 KG/M	63.5	32.1	63.5	5.9	8.94
	12 KG/M	69.85	38.1	69.85	7.54	12.2
	15 KG/M	79.37	42.86	79.37	8.33	15.2
	18 KG/M	80	40	80	10	18.06
	22 KG/M	93.66	50.8	93.66	10.72	22.3
	24 KG/M	107	51	90	10.9	24.46
	30 KG/M	107.95	60.33	107.95	12.3	30.1
Heavy Rail	38 KG/M	134	68	114	13	38.733
	43 KG/M	140	70	114	14.5	44.653
	45 KG/M	145	67	126	14.5	45.546
	50 KG/M	152	70	132	15.5	51.514
	60 KG/M	176	73	150	16.5	60.64
Crane Rail	QU 70	120	70	120	28	52.8
	QU 80	130	80	130	32	63.69
	QU 100	150	100	150	38	88.96
	QU 120	170	120	170	44	118.1

 

• Stee rail in foreign standards: British Standard: BS series (90A, 80A, 75A, 75R, 60A, etc.) German standard: DIN series crane rails. International Railway Union: UIC series. American Standard: ASCE series. Japanese standard: JIS series.

 

As a professional rail fastener supplier, GNEE RAIL can provide different standard steel rail such as GB,American, BS, UIC, DIN, JIS, Australian and South Africa which used in railway lines, cranes and coal mining.

 

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