railroad
n. countablen. a track made of steel rails that trains travel on. It also refers to the whole system of trains, tracks, and the companies that run them.
n. a permanent track composed of parallel steel rails for the transport of passengers and freight by train. Often used metonymically to refer to the entire infrastructure and the commercial organisations managing it.
The railroad runs right through the center of the town.
The expansion of the railroad in the nineteenth century transformed how goods were moved across the continent.
Historians often argue that the development of a national railroad was the primary catalyst for the rapid industrialisation and urban growth seen during that era.
From rail + road.
In British English, 'railway' is the standard term, whereas 'railroad' is the primary term in American English.