The critical subject of transverse crack detection in a rail head is treated in this paper. Conventional bulk wave ultrasonic techniques oftenfail because of shelling and other surface imperfections that shield the defects that lie below the shelling. A guided wave inspection technique is introduced here that can send ultrasonic energy along the rail under the shelling with a capability of finding the deleterious transverse crack defects. Dispersion curves are generated via a semi analytical finite element technique along with a hybrid guided wave finite element technique to explore the most suitable modes and frequencies for finding these defects. Sensor design and experimental feasibility experiments are also reported.