Steel rail is the main component of railway tracks. Its primary functions are to guide the wheels of rolling stock, withstand the immense pressure exerted by the wheels, and transfer this pressure to the sleepers. The rail must provide a continuous, smooth, and low-resistance rolling surface for the wheels. In electrified railways or automatic block sections, the rail can also serve as part of the track circuit.
Rails are primarily categorized by their cross-sectional shape, which mainly includes:
● Light Rails: Generally refer to rails with a weight per meter of ≤38 kg/m, commonly used for low-capacity railways, mines, forests, factories, construction sites, and other temporary or dedicated lines.
● Heavy Rails: Typically refer to rails with a weight per meter of >38 kg/m, primarily used for heavy haul, high-load, or high-speed rail systems such as mainline railways, subways, and high-speed rail.
● Tram Rails: Engineered for sustainable urban passenger rail systems, crafted to meet the highest standards of safety and performance, support eco-friendly electric trams, reducing emissions and traffic congestion.
● Crane Rails: Specialized tracks designed for overhead cranes, gantry cranes, jib cranes, portal cranes (eg. STS container crane) and other heavy-duty material handling equipment, engineered to withstand extreme stress, vibration, and wear; essential for industrial and logistical applications including shipyards & ports, steel mills & foundries, mining & coking facilities, aerospace & heavy machinery mobility etc.
