Are all train tracks electrified? Can you survive if you fall?

Not all train tracks in the world are electrified.

In the U.S., the two rails that hold the weight of the train are not electrified. In some places, but not others, there is a third rail that is electrified.

Passengers fall on NYC subway tracks fairly often. They sometimes get hit by trains, but they usually don't die from electrocution. To survive at some stations, you don't even need to get back up on the platform; in some stations, you can go under the platform.

The New York City subway has an electrified third rail.

PATH trains use an electrified third rail.

South of Croton-Harmon, the Metro North Hudson line uses a third rail. North of Croton-Harmon, it does not (and uses diesel power instead).

In New York City, Amtrak trains going to or from Boston, MA, or Washington, DC, are powered by electrified overhead wires and do not have an electrified third rail, but Amtrak trains going to or from Buffalo, Chicago, or Canada use an electrified third rail.

NJ Transit does not make much use of electrified third rails. It uses diesel power in some places and electrified overhead wires in other places.

For safety reasons the "third" electrified rail is usually on the opposite side of the "running" rails to the platform at stations, and thus is furthest away from anyone falling on the tracks. The electrified rail on subway/metro and main lines is usually electrified at between 600 and 750 volts direct current. It is easily identified as it is supported on porcelain or plastic insulators every 3-4 sleepers/cross-ties, and higher than the running rails.

As 'Kenny' says, anyone in contact with the live rail but nothing else will not get electrocuted, as there is no-where for the current to go. However, the chances of falling on the live rail, which is only about 3-4 inches wide, and remaining balanced upon it without touching anything else are about the same as flipping a coin and having it land on its edge! Also, I would add that after passing through the motors and other equipment on the trains, the current returns via the running rails and earth. Thus, the running rails can carry quite high currents in certain circumstances - when several trains are taking power in the same electrical section at once; or where the soil at a particular location is not particularly receptive to electrical currents, for example. I worked on 3rd rail electrified main lines in the UK, and it was drilled into us NEVER to touch any rail, and to assume that they all carried enough current to kill you.

Not all railways are electrified - and those that are either have a third rail carrying the current, or overhead wires. Much of the Long Island Railway is electrified, with a third rail. If you touch the third rail you get a 750 volt shock - enough to kill most people - but in stations that rail is always on the side away from the platform. The Port Jefferson, Oyster Bay, Montauk, and Greenport Branches are not electrified.

No. In Britain for example, only around 40% of track is electrified; around 13% has electrified rails at track level (mainly south of London, and also on the Merseyrail lines in Liverpool), and 27% is electrified using overhead wires. That leaves 60% of track in Britain that is not electrified and can only be used by diesel (or steam!) powered trains.

Overhead wires enable high speed running - the use of electrified rails limits train speed to 100mph, which is not considered high speed by today's standards. Because of this, and the safety considerations, electrified rails are banned for new installations in Britain, though it is still permissible to extend existing lines.

If you fall onto an electrified rail, you are very likely to die as your body will complete a circuit between the electric rail and ground. The rail is electrified at up to 750 volts D.C. and can deliver a considerable amount of current (thousands of amps).

Not all train tracks in the world are electrified. You can still survive if you fall.

Not all of them. If the trains are powered by an overhead wire or they don't have the third rail, they aren't.

one of the rail is electrified. If you are not grounded then even if you touch that rail the electricity will not run through your body. Same idea as when birds land on power lines; they don't get electrocuted.

GET OFF MY TRAIN!!! just kidding

NO YES