GB heavy rail, light rail, and crane rail are three different types of rails, which differ in the following aspects:
Heavy rail: Rails with a nominal weight of more than 60 kg per meter are heavy rails. Mainly used for national standard inter-regional railways (including high-speed railways and heavy-load railways), inter-city railways, urban railways and subways in urban rail transit, etc., used to carry heavy vehicles.
Light rail: Light rail models include 9kg/m, 12kg/m, 15kg/m, 18kg/m, 22kg/m, 24kg/m, 30kg/m, etc., mainly used for tracks in mining, forestry, construction, etc., suitable for some lines with small transportation volume and low speed, such as transportation tracks inside mines and sightseeing tracks in scenic spots.
Crane rails: used for the running tracks of various cranes. Common models include QU70, QU80, QU100, QU120, etc., mainly used in ports, docks, warehouses, power plants, shipyards, large machinery plants and other places, providing stable running tracks for cranes and bearing the load of cranes during operation.
Differences in materials used
Heavy rails: Commonly used steel grades include U71Mn (G), U75V (G), U78CrV, etc., which have high strength, hardness and good toughness to withstand the huge load and impact of the train.
Light rails: Mainly made of carbon steel, a small part of which is made of low-alloy steel. Its strength and hardness are relatively lower than those of heavy rails, but it can meet the use requirements of light rails.
Crane rails: Its chemical composition and manufacturing process are similar to those of railway rails, but there are special requirements for the dimensional accuracy, surface quality and mechanical properties of the rails. It is usually made of high-quality carbon steel or low-alloy steel to ensure the wear resistance, fatigue resistance and load-bearing capacity of the rails.