Single track (rail)

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For other uses, see Single track.

Image:08 tory railtrack ubt.jpeg A single track railway is one where traffic in both directions shares the same track. In the early days of railways, especially before the telegraph, operation of significant numbers of trains on a single track railway was fraught with difficulties, including delays and accidents, particularly head-on collisions.

Some early wagonways, such as the Gloucester and Cheltenham Railway, were primarily single track with crossing loops at frequent intervals. The crossing loops were arranged to be in line of sight of one another, so that drivers in one direction could see if vehicles in the opposing direction were already in the single line section. The single line sections needed to be straight, so the profile of the line tended to be a series of chords rather than a smooth arc.

When a single track railway is converted to a double track railway, in some countries this is called duplication. The converse operation, converting a double track railway to single track, is known as singling.