A guide rail is a device or mechanism to direct products, vehicles or other objects through a channel, conveyor, roadway or rail system. Several types of guide rails exist and may be associated with: * Factory or production line conveyors * Power tools, such as table saws * Elevator or lift shafts * Roadways and bridges (in this context sometimes called guardrails) * A central rail that guides the rubber tired train of a rubber tired metro

Factory guide rail

Most factories use guide rails convey products and component parts along an

assembly line An assembly line, often called ''progressive assembly'', is a manufacturing process where the unfinished product moves in a direct line from workstation to workstation, with parts added in sequence until the final product is completed. By mechan ...

. This conveyor system propels products of various sizes, shapes, and dimensions through the factory over the course of their assembly.

Power tool guide rail

Accessory to a power tool, such as a straight, swivel or angle jig for a circular saw, and can also be referred to as a fence. The guide rail system provides an acute method of cutting material.

Elevator shaft guide rail

Guide rails are part of the inner workings of most elevator and lift shafts, functioning as the vertical, internal track. The guide rails are fixed to two sides of the shaft; one guides the elevator car and the other for the counterweight. In tandem, these rails operate both as stabilization within the shaft during routine use and as a safety system in case of emergency stops.

Roadway guide rail

A guide rail is a system designed to guide vehicles back to the roadway and away from potentially hazardous situations. There is no legal distinction between a guide rail and a

guard rail Guard rails, guardrails, railings or protective guarding, in general, are a boundary feature and may be a means to prevent or deter access to dangerous or off-limits areas while allowing light and visibility in a greater way than a fence. Commo ...

. According to the US

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

, the terms guardrail and guiderail are synonymous. Several types of roadway guide rail exist; all are engineered to guide vehicular traffic on roads or bridges. Such systems include W-beam, box beam, cable, and concrete barrier. Each system is intended to guide vehicles back onto the road as opposed to guard them from going off the road into potential danger.

Railway guide rail

On the Sapporo Municipal Subway a central rail guides the train. The Lille Metro, Translohr and Bombardier Guided Light Transit are also guided by a central guide rail. Image:Sapporo subway rollers.jpg, Sapporo Subway guide rail and flat steel roll ways File:Guide rail used in the Translohr guidance system for rubber-tyred trams.jpg, Section of the Translohr guidance rail (during the

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, , ; or simply ; ) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population of 147,284 (2020). Its metropolitan area () had 504,157 inhabitants at the 2018 ...

installation in 2006) File:Ligne 1 du métro de Lille Métropole - Garage-atelier des Quatre Cantons (19).JPG, VAL tracks on the Lille Metro showing the center guide rail and rollways. File:BTC 4005.jpg, Busan Subway Line 4

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