A mainline configuration featuring two parallel tracks, typically assigned by direction of travel. This layout eliminates the need for trains to wait in sidings for opposing traffic to pass. Dispatchers rely on crossovers between the two tracks to route faster trains around slower ones or to keep traffic moving around maintenance work.
Heard on the job
We'll cross over to the north main once we hit the double track at milepost forty.
Insider tip
On traditional double track, trains run on a designated side similar to highway traffic, governed by current of traffic rules.
Also heard as
- two-track main