What is this short middle rail?
Around Paris, Transilien (suburban train) stations all seem to have a few short rail segments between two rails, immediately preceded or followed by an even shorter raised thing. Here's how it looks like:
Here's a satellite view of another railway station with the short rail and the raised thing being clearly visible:
It doesn't seem to be guard rails: they are directly in the middle, there is a raised thing before/after short rail, and many of them are in the locations where the trains have little risk of derailment.
What is the purpose of this?
Best Answer
The short one is a so-called crocodile, a piece of safety equipment that transmits signals to the driver.
I'm not sure about the long one.
Pictures about "What is this short middle rail?"
What are the different types of rails?
There are three types of rails: Double-headed rails....- Double-Headed rails. These rails were used in the early stages of railroad development. ...
- Bull-Headed rails. ...
- Flat-footed rails.
Why are there rails in the middle of the track?
In rail transport, guard rails or check rails are rails used in the construction of the track, placed parallel to regular running rail to keep the wheels of rolling stock in alignment to prevent derailment.Which rail is the third rail?
The third rail, also called 3rd rail or conductor rail, is a type of contact rail. A train with electric energy as the main power runs on a railway composed of two steel rails. In order to supply power to the train, a live rail is added next to the railway, which is the third rail.What is 4th rail?
fourth rail (plural fourth rails) (rail transport) An extra rail in addition to the third rail (live rail) which is used for current return purposes, mainly by London Underground, because of problems caused by using the running rails for current return underground.Rail Corridors - Eurasian rail traffic development [short version with subtitles]
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Images: Karolina Grabowska, Karolina Grabowska, Вениамин Курочкин, Ketut Subiyanto