Criticise American railway board (5)
I believe the answer is:
panel
'board' is the definition.
(I know that board can be written as panel)
'criticise american railway' is the wordplay.
'criticise' becomes 'pan' (informal term meaning to criticise heavily).
'american railway' becomes 'el' (El train, short for elevated railway. I am not sure about the 'american' bit.).
'pan'+'el'='PANEL'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for panel that I've seen before include "regularly beaten by bodywork experts?" , "a selection of which is put in box" , "Judging committee" , "Group of interviewers" , "Section of wood or metal" .)