noun
railway switch; points
Technical term for the movable rails that guide trains from one track to another. The loanword ポイント is more common in everyday conversation.
See also: ポイント
転轍機の故障で電車が遅れた。
The train was delayed due to a switch failure.
駅員が手動
The station staff are operating the switch manually.
The common loanword for 'switch' or 'points' in railway contexts; 転轍機 is the native technical term.
Compound of 転 (てん, 'turn') + 轍 (てつ, 'rut, track') + 機 (き, 'machine'). The kanji 轍 is non-jōyō, hence the alternative spelling 転てつ機.