track
Loading your saved state.
track / platform
The route for trains, consisting of two parallel steel rails. At a station, it also refers to the platform area for a specific train.
Achtung, der ICE nach Berlin fährt heute von Gleis 12 ab.
Attention, the ICE to Berlin is departing from platform 12 today.
In the station context, the prepositions are important: a train departs 'von Gleis 5' (from platform 5), but arrives 'auf Gleis 5' (on platform 5). The question asking about the location is 'Auf welchem Gleis?' (On which platform?).
Der Zug nach Hamburg fährt heute von Gleis 7.
The train to Hamburg is departing from platform 7 today.
The word 'Gleis' (track/platform) is almost always used in connection with trains and stations. Typical verbs are 'abfahren' (to depart), 'ankommen' (to arrive), 'halten' (to stop), or 'wechseln' (to change).
Wegen einer Weichenstörung müssen wir das Gleis wechseln.
Because of a points failure, we have to change platforms.
The idiom 'aus dem Gleis geraten' (to go off track) describes a loss of control. The person who loses control is the subject of the sentence.
Nach der Trennung ist er für einige Wochen völlig aus dem Gleis geraten.
After the breakup, he went completely off track for a few weeks.
The expression 'etwas in die richtigen Gleise lenken' (to steer something onto the right tracks) means to actively improve a situation. It requires a subject (who is steering) and an accusative object (what is being steered).
Ein Mediator soll den Konflikt wieder in die richtigen Gleise lenken.
A mediator is supposed to set the conflict back on the right track.
train / track
'die Bahn' and 'das Gleis' both belong to train travel. 'die Bahn' usually means the means of transport or the whole system, so a train, S-Bahn, subway, or Deutsche Bahn. 'das Gleis' means the actual train track made of rails, or, at a station, the area from which a train departs. Learners may confuse the words because you hear both at the train station. When you say what you are traveling by, you use 'Bahn'. When you say where the train is standing or departing from, you use 'Gleis'.
Der Zug nach Köln fährt heute von Gleis sieben ab.
The train to Cologne is departing from platform seven today.
Laura nimmt heute die Bahn zur Arbeit, weil die Straßen voll sind.
Laura is taking the train to work today because the roads are crowded.