Steel rail, also called rail track, steel track, is the main component of railway track. Its function is to guide the wheels of the locomotive, bear the great pressure of the wheel, and keep the stability of railway transportation. The rail must provide continuous, smooth and minimum rolling surfaces for the wheels. In electrified railway or automatic block section, rail can also be used as an orbital circuit.
22kg rail is oriented and load bearing, it is used with the track wheel, to support the weight.The 22kg light rail is mainly used for the laying of temporary transportation lines and light locomotive lines for forest areas, mining areas, factories and construction sites.
A 22kg light steel rail weighs 22.3 kilograms per meter (kg/m), as the "22kg" refers to its nominal weight per meter, which is standard for this type of rail used in mining and industrial applications. While its theoretical weight is 22.3 kg/m, actual measured weights can sometimes slightly vary (e.g., 21.2-21.5 kg/m) due to manufacturing tolerances.
| Parameters Of 22kg Light Rail | |||
| type | weight (kg/m) | material | length (m) |
| 22Kg | 22.30 | Q235/55Q | 6-10m |
| rail height (mm) | bottom width (mm) | head width (mm) | web thinkness (mm) |
| 93.66 | 93.66 | 50.8 | 10.72 |
Heavy steel rail vs Light rail
Heavy rail uses massive, strong rails for high-speed, high-capacity systems (subways, freight) on dedicated tracks, while light rail uses lighter, smaller rails for urban transport (trams) that often runs at street level, sometimes sharing roads with cars, offering lower capacity but greater flexibility. The key difference lies in rail weight (e.g., 60kg+ for heavy vs. <30kg for light), infrastructure (grade-separated vs. at-grade), capacity, and operational environment (dedicated vs. mixed traffic).
| Classification | Height(mm) | Head (mm) | Bottom (mm) | Thick(mm) | Weight (kg/m) | |
| 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 | |
What is the function of steel rail?
The primary function of steel rails is to provide a smooth, continuous, and durable surface that guides train wheels, supports immense weight, and transfers loads from the wheels to the track structure (sleepers, ballast, roadbed). They offer a low-resistance path for rolling, withstand impacts and pressure, and, in electrified systems, can also act as electrical conductors for signals and power.
- Guidance: Rails keep trains on a specific path, preventing derailment and ensuring safe passage.
- Load Support: They bear the massive weight of locomotives and carriages, distributing it across the track structure.
- Load Transfer: Rails transmit these forces (weight, impact, centrifugal forces) to the sleepers and the ground below.
- Low Resistance Surface: They offer the least resistant surface for wheels to roll on, enabling efficient train movement.
- Electrical Conduction: On electrified lines, they serve as part of the electrical circuit for signaling and power return.
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.