also: ぶんぎき
railroad switch; turnout
Technical term for a device that guides trains from one track to another. Used in railway engineering and operations.
The train was delayed due to a switch failure.
Maintenance workers are inspecting the railroad switch.
ポイント is a common loanword for 'switch' or 'points' in everyday railway context, while 分岐器 is the formal technical term.
Standard kanji spelling for a railroad switch. The reading ぶんきき is the most common.
Alternate reading ぶんぎき is less common but recognized in technical contexts.
Compound of 分岐 (branching) and 器 (device). The reading ぶんきき reflects standard on'yomi, while ぶんぎき is a variant with rendaku on the second character.