Railway Accidents

The permanent way is so called because temporary way tracks were often used in the construction of that permanent way.
Track maintenance
Track needs 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 labour, requiring teams of labourers (US: gandy dancers, UK: platelayers or trackmen, Australia: fettlers), who used lining bars to correct iregularities in horizontal alignment (line)of the track, and tamping and jacks to correct vertical irregularities (surface). Currently, maintenance is facilitated by a variety of specialised machines.