Track maintenance

Track maintenance is when tracks get regular maintenance to remain in good order, especially when high-speed trains are involved. Inadequate maintenance may lead to a "slow order" (North American terminology, a "slack" or speed restriction in the United Kingdom) being imposed to avoid accidents. Track maintenance was at one time hard manual labor, requiring teams of laborers (US: gandy dancers, UK: platelayers or trackmen, Australia: fettlers), who used levers to force rails back into place on steep turns, correcting the gradual shifting caused by the centripetal force of passing trains. Currently, maintenance is facilitated by a variety of specialized machines.