The weight limit applied to trains passing over a line by the railway civil engineer. It is the limit allowed to be applied to any one axle on the train. Always the bane of the life of a rolling stock designer. Axle load refers to the maximum weight permitted on a single axle. A fthe-axle vehicle weighing 60 t (metric tonnes) would have an axle load of approximately 15 t depending on how the weight was distributed. In the UK the maximum axle load is 20 t on most main lines. The European maximum is 22.5 t.