铁路 meaning in English

tiělù

railroad; railway

HSK 3nounTraditional 鐵路23 strokes

Meaning of 铁路

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

tiělù

railroad
railway

Measure word: 條|条

How to use 铁路

铁路 refers to the railway system or the tracks themselves. It often appears in words like 铁路局 (tiělùjú, railway bureau) and 高速铁路 (gāosù tiělù, high-speed railway). Example: 这条铁路很长。(Zhè tiáo tiělù hěn cháng.) This railway is very long.

铁路 is simply 铁 (tiě, iron) plus 路 (lù, road). A railway is an iron road, the steel track that trains run on.

Common mistake: Learners sometimes use 铁路 to mean the train itself, but the train is 火车 (huǒchē). You take a train with 坐火车 (zuò huǒchē), not 坐铁路.

铁路 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

铁tiě路lù与yǔ公gōng路lù平píng行xíng。

The tracks run parallel to the road.

铁tiě路lù工gōng人rén明míng天tiān将jiāng继jì续xù进jìn行xíng罢bà工gōng。

The railroad workers are going on walkout tomorrow.

地dì图tú上shàng的de红hóng线xiàn代dài表biǎo铁tiě路lù。

The red lines on the map represent a railway.

铁tiě路lù连lián通tōng了le两liǎng个gè城chéng市shì。

A railroad has connected the two cities.

我wǒ爸bà爸bà在zài铁tiě路lù工gōng作zuò。

My dad works on the railways.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

铁 tiě · iron · 10 strokes

路 lù · road · 13 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 铁路.

路上	lùshang	on the road; on the way; en route
走路	zǒulù	to walk; to go on foot; to leave; to depart
马路	mǎlù	street; road
路口	lùkǒu	crossing; intersection (of roads)
道路	dàolù	road; path
公路	gōnglù	highway; road
地铁	dìtiě	underground railway; subway; subway train
路边	lù biān	curb; roadside; wayside
一路顺风	yīlù-shùnfēng	to have a pleasant journey (idiom)
一路平安	yīlù-píng'ān	to have a pleasant journey; Bon voyage!
地铁站	dìtiězhàn	subway station
问路	wènlù	to ask for directions; to ask the way (to some place)

Questions about 铁路

What does 铁路 mean?

铁路 (tiělù) means "railroad; railway" and is used as a noun.

How do you write 铁路?

铁路 is made of 2 characters: 铁 (10 strokes), 路 (13 strokes). That is 23 strokes in total.

Is 铁路 an HSK word?

Yes. 铁路 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How is 铁路 written in traditional Chinese?

In traditional characters, 铁路 is written 鐵路.

What measure word goes with 铁路?

Use 条 (tiáo), the measure word for long, narrow things. For example, 一条铁路 (yì tiáo tiělù) means one railway line.

How is 铁路 different from 公路 and 地铁?

铁路 is a railway for trains, while 公路 (gōnglù) is a highway for cars. 地铁 (dìtiě) is the subway, a city rail system that usually runs underground.