Glossary of rail transport terms

Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term railroad and the international term railway (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United States) is the most significant difference in rail terminology. These and other terms have often originated from the parallel development of rail transport systems in different parts of the world. In English-speaking countries outside the United Kingdom, a mixture of US and UK terms may exist. Various terms, both global and specific to individual countries, are listed here. Where a term has multiple names, this is indicated. The abbreviation "UIC" refers to standard terms adopted by the International Union of Railways in its official publications and thesaurus. Harmonic rock or harmonic rock and roll The condition of locomotives and cars swaying in opposite directions when traversing depressions on the roadbed. A potentially dangerous condition that can cause coupler damage, lading damage, or derailments at slower speeds. Head-End Power A scheme whereby the locomotive engine or a separate generator provides hotel power to carriages Headboard A sign attached to a locomotive to identify a named train or charter, or for other special occasions Headstock A transverse structural member located at the extreme end of a rail vehicle's underframe. The headstock supports the coupling at that end of the vehicle, and may also support buffers, in which case it may also be known as a "buffer beam". Heavy haul Heavy freight operations High rail The upper rail in a curve or superelevation, which typically experiences higher lateral loads and greater wear Hole A passing siding. Inferior trains "lay over in the hole" to let superior ones pass. Home signal See absolute signal.

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A train station, railway station, railroad station, or railway depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing such ancillary services as ticket sales, waiting rooms, and baggage/freight service. If a station is on a single-track line, it often has a passing loop to facilitate traffic movements.

Classification yard

A classification yard (American English, as well as the Canadian National Railway), marshalling yard (British, Hong Kong, Indian, and Australian English, as well as the Canadian Pacific Railway) or shunting yard (Central Europe) is a railway yard found at some freight train stations, used to separate railway cars onto one of several tracks. First the cars are taken to a track, sometimes called a lead or a drill. From there the cars are sent through a series of switches called a ladder onto the classification tracks.

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A bilevel car (American English) or double-decker coach (British English and Canadian English) is a type of rail car that has two levels of passenger accommodation as opposed to one, increasing passenger capacity (up to 57% per car in extreme cases). The use of double-decker carriages, where feasible, can resolve capacity problems on a railroad, avoiding other options which have an associated infrastructure cost such as longer trains (which require longer station platforms), more trains per hour (which the signalling or safety requirements may not allow) or adding extra tracks besides the existing line.

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