A railway clamping and lifting module 14a, 14b for aligning opposing railway rails. The alignment means comprises first and second railway-rail clamping elements 16 to horizontally and longitudinally align the opposing railway rails when gripped by the first and second railway-rail clamping elements 16 movably supported by the device support 12, and a vertical lifting means. The clamping and lifting heads may be in an alternating arrangement, and may take the form of a pair of opposed pivotable lifting armatures (64, fig 11, fig 12) with an e.g. linear actuator (50, fig 11, 12) to achieve the pivot. The module support may be moved by a slidable carriage 20. The heads may be locked into position. The device 10 is designed to comprise an urging means for moving at least one railway-rail clamping elements 16 together to align the rails, and an induction heating device 24 interposed or interposable between the first and second railway-rail clamping elements 16 to inductively weld the opposing railway rails together. A shear die 28 complementary to the railway shape may be used to shear upset from the weld. A sacrificial piece of rail may be used. A vehicle may comprise the railway induction-welding device.
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