A railroad tie, crosstie, railway tie or railway sleeper is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Usually laid perpendicular to the rails, ties transfer loads to the track ballast and subgrade, hold the rails upright and keep them spaced to the correct gauge.
Wooden ties are used on many traditional railways. In the background is a track with concrete ties.
Stone block from the Kilmarnock and Troon Railway
Steel ties
Wagons with new woodties in Sweden, 2016
A railway track or railroad track, also known as a train track or permanent way, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties and ballast, plus the underlying subgrade. It enables trains to move by providing a dependable surface for their wheels to roll upon. Early tracks were constructed with wooden or cast iron rails, and wooden or stone sleepers; since the 1870s, rails have almost universally been made from steel.
New railway concrete sleeper
Traditional railway track showing ballast, part of sleeper and fixing mechanisms
Track of Singapore LRT
Ballastless high-speed track in China