Types of Railway Turnouts
Mar 10,2026
Common turnouts are mainly classified into four types according to their purpose, plan form, and structural characteristics: ordinary single turnout, symmetrical turnout, crossover, and double-crossing turnout. 󠄐󠅅󠄹󠄴󠄪󠄾󠅟󠅤󠄐󠄼󠅟󠅗󠅙󠅞󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠇘󠆭󠆘󠇙󠆝󠅵󠇗󠆭󠆁󠄐󠇗󠅹󠅸󠇖󠆍󠅳󠇖󠅹󠅰󠇖󠆌󠅹󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮
（1）Ordinary single turnout. A turnout is a railway line that splits a main line into a straight line and a lateral line. This type of turnout maintains the straightness of the main line, with the lateral line located to the left or right of the main line. Standing at the turnout end facing the turnout end, a turnout with the lateral line to the right of the main line is called a right-hand turnout, or simply a "right-hand turnout." A turnout with the lateral line to the left of the main line is called a left-hand turnout, or simply a "left-hand turnout." Among various types of turnouts, the ordinary single turnout is the most widely used, accounting for approximately 90% or more of the total. 󠄐󠅅󠄹󠄴󠄪󠄾󠅟󠅤󠄐󠄼󠅟󠅗󠅙󠅞󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠇘󠆭󠆘󠇙󠆝󠅵󠇗󠆭󠆁󠄐󠇗󠅹󠅸󠇖󠆍󠅳󠇖󠅹󠅰󠇖󠆌󠅹󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮
（2）Symmetrical turnouts. A symmetrical double turnout is a turnout that symmetrically splits a main line into two side lines to the left and right, with the two frog angles being equal. A double-symmetrical turnout (also known as a three-way turnout) is a turnout where the main line is straight, and two sets of switches at the same location divide the line into three symmetrical branches on both sides. 󠄐󠅅󠄹󠄴󠄪󠄾󠅟󠅤󠄐󠄼󠅟󠅗󠅙󠅞󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠇘󠆭󠆘󠇙󠆝󠅵󠇗󠆭󠆁󠄐󠇗󠅹󠅸󠇖󠆍󠅳󠇖󠅹󠅰󠇖󠆌󠅹󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮
（3）Crossover. It refers to a turnout consisting of four sets of single turnouts (or symmetrical turnouts) with the same number, a diamond-shaped track, and connecting rails. It means that two lines intersect each other, and the train can not only run in a straight line, but also switch from one straight line to another. 󠄐󠅅󠄹󠄴󠄪󠄾󠅟󠅤󠄐󠄼󠅟󠅗󠅙󠅞󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠇘󠆭󠆘󠇙󠆝󠅵󠇗󠆭󠆁󠄐󠇗󠅹󠅸󠇖󠆍󠅳󠇖󠅹󠅰󠇖󠆌󠅹󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮
（4）Compound intersection. The double-switching turnout mainly consists of two sets of ordinary acute-angle frogs and guard rails, two sets of movable obtuse-angle frogs, four straight switch rails and four curved switch rails (front and rear double switch devices), six curved guide rails, eight connecting rails and connecting parts, wooden turnout sleepers, electric switch machinery and circuit equipment. 󠄐󠅅󠄹󠄴󠄪󠄾󠅟󠅤󠄐󠄼󠅟󠅗󠅙󠅞󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮󠇘󠆭󠆘󠇙󠆝󠅵󠇗󠆭󠆁󠄐󠇗󠅹󠅸󠇖󠆍󠅳󠇖󠅹󠅰󠇖󠆌󠅹󠄬󠅒󠅢󠄟󠄮
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