A flying junction is a railway junction at which one or more diverging or converging tracks in a multiple-track route cross other tracks on the route by bridge to avoid conflict with other train movements. A more technical term is "grade-separated junction". A myriad of tracks at Clapham Junction, in London, England A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a point at which a branch line or separate route diverges from the main line. ...

Simple flying junctions may have a single track pass over or under other tracks to avoid conflict, while complex flying junctions may have an elaborate infrastructure to allow multiple routings among a variety of tracks without trains coming into conflict, in the manner of a highway stack interchange. A stack interchange is a free-flowing junction between two or more roads that allows turning in all directions. ...

An alternative to a flying junction is a level junction, where tracks cross at grade and routings must be controlled by signals and an interlocking plant. In U.S. railroad practice, a level junction (or in the United Kingdom a flat junction) is a railway junction that has a track configuration in which merging or crossing railroad lines provide track connections with each other that require trains to cross over in front of opposing traffic at... An at-grade intersection is a junction at which two or more transport axes cross at the same level (or grade). ... A signal is a mechanical or electrical device that indicates to train drivers or engineers information about the state of the line ahead, and therefore whether he or she must stop or may proceed, or instructions on what speed the train may go. ... Interlocking in railway terminology (US) is a term used to describe an at-grade crossing or other junction of two or more railroads, or any railroad switching complex in which the switches and the signals controlling train movement over those switches is interlocked so that it is impossible to give...

Examples

• Weaver Junction near Northwich, Cheshire, UK [1]
• Aynho Junction in Aynho, Northamptonshire, UK
• Central Station in Sydney, Australia

Weaver junction is a railway junction on the West Coast Main Line. ... Northwich is a wich town in Cheshire, England. ... Cheshire (or, archaically, the County of Chester)[1] is a county in North West England. ... Aynho Junction is a railway junction a few miles south of Banbury in Northamptonshire, England. ... Aynho (formerly spelt Aynhoe) is a village in South Northamptonshire, England. ... Northamptonshire (abbreviated Northants or Nhants) is a landlocked county in central England with a population of 629,676 (2001 census). ... Central Railway Station (also known as Sydney Terminal) is the largest railway station in Sydney, Australia. ... The Sydney Opera House on Sydney Harbour Sydney (pronounced ) is the most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 4. ...

External links

• Photo link - flying junction on Pennsylvania Railroad north of 30th Street Station, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
• Photo link - simpler flying junction at terminus of Market-Frankford transit line, 69th Street Station, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
• Google Map - Flying Junctions immediately south of Central Station, Sydney

Coordinates: 49°05′20″N 6°07′10″E / 49.08889, 6.11944 Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...