Why do trains run on rails?

Question

Why do trains run on rails?

Answer 1

Can't believe someone would ask a question like this. No good giving an explanation. If they need to ask, they certainly won't understand the answer.

Answer 2

Because if they didn't they wouldn't be trains, they'd be road vehicles!

The great advantage of rails is that friction is greatly reduced, whilst load is evenly spread - enabling vastly heavier loads to be contemplated on a train than on a road vehicle.

I am assuming that this question was meant to be taken seriously!

Answer 3

Don't jump out of tracks

Answer 4

Because they cant walk on roads?.

Answer 5

Because driving a 450ft long vehicle weighing about 900 tons would be a bit awkward.

Answer 6

Without the support of the track structure, the equipment sinks right into the ground.

A single locomotive weighs in at around 200 tons.  They don't roll very well off the tracks, in fact, not at all.

Your average loaded freight car is around 140 tons per copy.  They don't roll off the tracks either.

Engineers have a little more to think about than speed or an obstruction on the rails.  It takes years of experience for an engineer to reach full potential and I can assure you that it is considerably more difficult than navigating a highway off-ramp.

Answer 7

Because no one had invented hover technology in those days!

And if it didn't have rails and wheels to run on them, it would be a boiler!

Answer 8

because gravel is too bumpy

Answer 9

Trains are means of transportation with dedicated path. That means that the path is only for them to use. The circulation is planned in charts so at one time only one train can ocupy a part of the rail. In this way they avoid the bumping of the trains. The train driver does not focus on stirring the weel but only on controlling the speed. It's much safer this way.

Answer 10

Steel wheels on steel rails causes less friction.  More efficient.

Answer 11

Because if it ran on the road it would be called a car.

Answer 12

because thats how they work.

Answer 13

I ask this and they say because they not let privat compansie work them on since hatfield points stretcher bar bolts took out for inspection and forgot back to put .

Answer 14

BECAUSE THEY LIKE IT THERE !!!

Answer 15

Because they don't have steering wheels.

Answer 16

cos they wouldn't work on 2 lengths of string.....

Answer 17

because.......yea

Answer 18

They run on tracks that are called rails... don't pee on the third rail.

Answer 19

The first use of rails was in mines where lots of heavy coal, ore, etc had to be got out and the ground wasn't the smooth tarmac surfaces one finds on modern roads. It was usually very uneven, wet and rock strewn.

The rail and waggon system worked well as the wheels had a smooth surface to run on and so the friction was low and men or ponies could haul a great many waggons of coal or ore to the surface or to the bottom of the shaft.

As the roads in 18th and 19th century were very poor, railways began to appear in the countryside linking e.g.mines and ports.  A horse could haul a vast number of wagons while a cart on the road hauled by many horses or oxen would be a laborious business, not best used in Winter, you used pack horses instead.

So railway is an effecient method of transport even today.

Answer 20

So they can move quicker

Answer 21

cuz if they werent on rails then they would by floating all over the place!

duh because they make diffrnt routes....umm im not sure ok lol so dont call me stupid ....

Answer 22

some run on steam,some on diesel and i suppose rails come in somewhere

Answer 23

If trains didn't run on rails, what would they run on, unless you want them to run on the street.

Answer 24

Charis.

Please discuss this question.

Answer 25

Because they are trains, not cars or buses, and they weigh around a 1000 tones, and carry more people. also there are no traffic jams.

Answer 26

trains run on steel rails because they have no steering wheels. and even if they did, have you ever tried to turn a mile long, a half million ton train with one steering wheel???

the rails are a standard path for many trains to use for decades, centuries even. the engineer only has worry about speed and things crossing the tracks, not finding an exit off the interstate. besides, the trains are then more efficient than a convoy of semis.

Answer 27

As previous persons answered, the rails allow the heavy weight to be distributed.... A train would sink into a paved street. The reason though is because when trains were invented, the car hadn't been yet. Also, road building technology wasn't what it is today. They didn't have all the modern paving equipment. So it was much easier and effiecient to build rails. Why do modern trains still use rails? because the railroads were already built over decades, so it was easier to keep using the same routes than tear them all up and re-route or change the existing railways.

Answer 28

Because they're so darned heavy. It's the only way.