The most commonly used steel grade is 880, which is pearlitic microstructure.
High-quality steel is used to make rails which must be durable and long-lasting. However, the basic requirement of the steel used for rail is that it must be crack resistant and hard-wearing.
The market for rails consists of the following main product by applications

• Rails for railways
• Rails for cranes
• Rails for other applications

However, almost nearly 95% of the global rails are used by the railways’ sector.

Types of Rails:

Double-headed rails

• Consists of upper table, web and lower table
• Outdated

Bull-headed rails

• Consists of head, web and foot
• Largely used in Europe

Flat-footed rails

• Consists of head, web and foot
• Used in 90 % of railway tracks

Rail gauges and sizes:

• Narrow Gauges it starts from 610mm up to a meter gauge (1000 mm)
• Standard Guage is 1435 mm
• Broad gauges start from over 1435 mm

Weight of rails:

• Russian rails are 65 kg to 75 kg per meter
• European Rails are between 40 kg to 60 kg per meter
• American rails are between 34 kg to 70 kg per meter
• Australia Rails are between 30 kg to 68 kg per meter