A junction , in the context of rail transport , is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge. The physical connection between the tracks of the two routes (assuming they are of the same gauge) is provided by turnouts (US: switches ) and signalling .
9-499: The Stockton Diamond is a railway junction just south of downtown Stockton, California , near the intersection of Aurora Street South and East Scotts Avenue. It is the junction where the north–south running Union Pacific Fresno Subdivision line crosses the east–west BNSF Stockton Subdivision , both double-track railways . Freight trains operate through the intersection 24 hours a day; Altamont Corridor Express and Amtrak California San Joaquins passenger trains also utilize
18-450: Is restricted by tunnels , bridges or inner-city tracks. The installation of junctions into a rail system poses many challenges, including increased maintenance costs, and problems in on-time performance. Metro rail systems have a rail network design where the number of junctions is minimized. Passengers, and not trains, move from one train station to another. Flying junction Too Many Requests If you report this error to
27-473: The UP Stockton Yard to the at-grade crossing at Weber Avenue. Tracks will begin to rise at Lafayette Street and return to grade after Charter Way; a large retaining wall will be constructed between Charter and Church. Road traffic on Charter, Hazelton, and Scotts will be grade-separated under new rail bridges, while the existing at-grade crossings at Church and Lafayette would be closed. When complete,
36-425: The branch, e.g. Yeovil Junction is on the mainline railway south of Yeovil , and the next destination on the branch is Yeovil Pen Mill . Frequently, trains are built up and taken apart (separated) at such stations so that the same train can be divided and proceed to multiple destinations. For goods trains (US: freight trains), marshalling yards (US: Classification yards ) serve a similar purpose. The capacity of
45-499: The intersection, which will add capacity for future passenger rail expansion and reduce crossing interference. The Union Pacific line will be elevated above the BNSF line; construction is scheduled to start in 2023 and planned to complete in May 2026. The north–south flyover tracks will be constructed approximately 200 ft (61 m) to the east of the existing UP Fresno Subdivision, from
54-732: The junction. Two of the sides of the "diamond" are complete and allow interchanges between the north-east and south-west legs. By 2020 the junction was the most congested in California, with the level-crossing design contributing to delays throughout the state's rail network. As part of the Valley Rail project, the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission (SJRRC) and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will grade separate
63-628: The junctions limits the capacity of a railway network more than the capacity of individual railway lines . This applies more as the network density increases. Measures to improve junctions are often more useful than building new railway lines. The capacity of a railway junction can be increased with improved signaling measures, by building points suitable for higher speeds, or by turning level junctions into flying junctions , where tracks are grade-separated , and so one track passes over or under another. With more complicated junctions such construction can rapidly become very expensive, especially if space
72-449: The other. More complicated junctions are needed to permit trains to travel in either direction after joining the new route – for example by providing a triangular track layout. Rail transport operations refer to stations that lie on or near a railway junction as a junction station . In the UK it is customary for the junction (and the related station) to be named after the next station on
81-477: The project also will finish all four sides of the diamond. 37°56′48″N 121°16′33″W / 37.946756°N 121.275872°W / 37.946756; -121.275872 This United States rail–related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Railway junction In a simple case where two routes with one or two tracks each meet at a junction, a fairly simple layout of tracks suffices to allow trains to transfer from one route to
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