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A double junction in Cardiff, Wales

A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge. This implies a physical connection between the tracks of the two routes (assuming they are of the same gauge), provided by 'points' (US: switches) and signalling.

In a simple case where two routes with one or two tracks each meet at a junction, a fairly simple layout of tracks suffices to allow trains to transfer from one route to the other. More complicated junctions are needed to permit trains to travel in either direction after joining the new route, for example by providing a triangular track layout. In this latter case, the three points of the triangle may be given different names, for example using points of the compass as well as the name of the overall place.

Rail transport operations refer to stations that lie on or near a railway junction as a junction station. Frequently, trains are built up and taken apart (separated) at such stations so that the same train can split up and go to multiple destinations. For goods trains (US: freight trains), marshalling yards (US: Classification yards) serve a similar purpose.

The world's first railway junction was Newton Junction (now Earlestown station) near Newton-le-Willows, England where, in 1831, two railways merged.

Measures to improve junction capacity[link]

The capacity of the junctions limits the capacity of a railway network more than the capacity of individual railway lines. This applies more as the network density increases. Measures to improve junctions are often more useful than building new railway lines. The capacity of a railway junction can be increased with improved signalling measures, by building points suitable for higher speeds, or by turning level junctions into flying junctions. With more complicated junctions such construction can rapidly become very expensive, especially if space is restricted by tunnels, bridges or inner-city tracks.

Image gallery[link]

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  Junction of a Decauville train track from the Minicomboio da Caparica line in Costa da Caparica, Portugal

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rail junctions

• Rail terminology
• Interlocking
• Railway town
• Double junction

Look up junction in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Junction may refer to:

Electricity[link]

• Junction (electricity)
  • Thermoelectricity junction, a metal–metal junction
  • Metal–semiconductor junction
  • p–n junction, or semiconductor–semiconductor junction

• Magnetic tunnel junction

• Rectifying junction
• Ohmic contact, a non-rectifying junction

• Heterojunction
• Homojunction

• Depletion region, also called junction region
  • Junction voltage
• Junction diode
• Junction transistor (disambiguation)
• p–n junction isolation
• Junction box, a container for electrical connections, usually intended to conceal them from sight and meter tampering

Other science and technology[link]

• Cell junction, in biology
• NTFS junction point, in computing
• A construct of the computer language Perl 6 called Junctions

Transport[link]

• Junction (traffic) where traffic routes cross
  • Junction (road), a road junction
  • Intersection (road), a road junction
  • Interchange (road), a motorway junction
  • Junction (canal), a canal junction
  • Junction (rail), a railroad/railway junction

Places[link]

Junction is also the name of some places in the United States:

• Junction, California (disambiguation):
  • Junction, Contra Costa County, California
  • Junction, California, former name of Junction House, Lassen County, California
  • Junction, Mendocino County, California
  • Junction, California, former name of Roseville, California, in Placer County
• Junction, Illinois
• Junction, Texas
• Junction, Utah
• Junction, Wisconsin

and at least one in England:

• Junction, North Yorkshire

Junction City is also a popular name:

• Junction City, Arkansas
• Junction City, Georgia
• Junction City, Illinois
• Junction City, Kansas
• Junction City, Kentucky
• Junction City, Louisiana
• Junction City, Missouri
• Junction City, Ohio
• Junction City, Oregon
• Junction City, Washington
• Junction City, Wisconsin

Grand Junction is also the name of a few places:

• Grand Junction, Colorado
• Grand Junction, Iowa
• Grand Junction, Michigan
• Grand Junction, Tennessee

Popular culture[link]

• Junction (Dune), a fictional planet in the Dune universe
• a Guardian Force junction or status junction in the game Final Fantasy VIII
• Junction (manga), a manga (Japanese comic book or cartoon) by Toshiki Yui

See also[link]

• The Junction (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Look up rail in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Rail or rails may refer to:

Railway transportation

• A generic term for railroads, railways, rail transport, and related matters
• Rail tracks, or railway lines, the running surface of a railway
• Rail profile, the cross sectional shape of a railway rail
• Third rail, a method of providing electric power to a railway train
• Conductor rail, a structural steel surface fitted alongside a rail track to provide electrical power to the train

Science, technology, biology, and medicine

• Picatinny rail, a bracket used on some firearms in order to provide a standardized mounting platform for telescopic sights and other accessories
• Rails or Rallidae, a family of birds which includes crakes, coots, and gallinules
• Railing, a slang term for insufflation (medicine), whereby a substance, such as cocaine, is inhaled for recreational effects
• Structural
  • Guard rail, for protective separation of persons (including those in vehicles) from dangerous places or situations
  • Hand rail, for physical support, such as on stairways and steps
  • Theatre rail, see batten (theater), from which lighting fixtures, theatrical scenery, tabs or curtains may be hung
  • Curtain rail, see curtain, from which curtains are hung
  • Door rails, see frame and panel, a horizontal outside member on a door or in a frame and panel construction
• Electrical engineering
  • Power supply rail or voltage rail, a single voltage provided by a power supply unit

Other users

• Crayon Rails, the generic term for a board game which recreates the building of railroads via the use of crayons
• Rail (1967 short film), made by Geoffrey Jones for British Transport Films
• An archaic term for sexual intercourse^{[citation needed]}
• Ruby on Rails, often shortened to "Rails" or "RoR", is an open source web application framework for the Ruby programming language

See also[link]

• RAIL, disambiguation page
• Railway (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.