Rail line I may join in time (3)
I believe the answer is:
met
'rail line i may join in time' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'i may join in time' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'i' could be 'me' and 'me' is located in the answer.
'time' could be 't' (abbreviation) and 't' is found in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for met that I've seen before include "Came together, encountered" , "Encountered or touched" , "Encountered by chance or arrangement" , "satisfied" , "Came across - police in London" .)