Cog railways
Cog railways are mechanical lift systems. This is a type of transport where trains run on a line of track with an additional toothed centre rack rail.
Like conventional railways, cog railways consist of two parallel steel rails, but in this case they are supplemented by a third toothed rail, placed between the running rails, to ensure better grip.
One or more cog wheels mesh with the toothed track, enabling the train to climb gradients of up to 48%.
The limited grip of steel wheels greatly reduces the gradients that can be covered on conventional railway tracks. The technical limit is 16% on dry rails (14% on wet rails).
The cog system makes it possible to negotiate steeper gradients.
