double-track

See also: doubletrack and double track

English

Etymology

From double +‎ track.

Adjective

double-track (not comparable)

1. (rail transport) Having a pair of tracks in order to allow trains to pass in opposite directions.

   Synonym: twin-track

   Antonym: single-track

   • 1958 July, P. J. Norris, “The Bexhill West Branch”, in Railway Magazine, page 496:

     The double-track branch curves away southwards at the south end of the station and runs on a banked down gradient gradually losing sight of the main line.

   • 2020 September 23, Paul Bigland, “The tragic tale of the Tay Bridge disaster”, in RAIL, page 82:

     Determined to learn from Bouch's mistakes, they conducted a through ^[sic] survey of the riverbed. Having learned what they needed to know, they submitted plans for a new double-track bridge by the end of 1880.

Related terms

• double track
• double-tracking

Translations

railways: having a pair of tracks in order to allow trains to pass in opposite directions

Danish: dobbeltsporet German: zweigleisig (de) Irish: déraonach Japanese: 複線 (ja) (ふくせん, fukusen) Polish: dwutorowy (pl)

Verb

double-track (third-person singular simple present double-tracks, present participle double-tracking, simple past and past participle double-tracked)

1. (rail transport) To provide double track.
   • 2023 March 8, “Network News: Midlands presses for rail hub scheme”, in RAIL, number 978, page 14:

     Other engineering upgrades include the reinstatement of Platform 4 at Birmingham Snow Hill, partially double-tracking the line between Ledbury and Shelwick, and freight loops between Nuneaton and Leicester.