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Rail transport - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
 | | A typical railway (or railroad) track consists of two parallel steel (or in older networks, iron) rails, generally anchored perpendicular to beams (termed sleepers (Commonwealth) or railroad ties (U.S. and Canada)) of timber, concrete, or steel to maintain a consistent distance apart, or gauge. |
 | | Securing railways is often more difficult than for other modes of transport because stations are designed with easy access and high capacity rather than security as their primary goals; most trains make many stops, rendering any sort of passenger screening difficult; and securing the tracks as they run through cities and the countryside is impractical. |
 | | Railways soon spread throughout the United Kingdom and through the world, and became the dominant means of land transport for nearly a century, until the invention of aircraft and automobiles, which prompted a gradual decline in railways. |
| en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Railway (3216 words) |
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