Russian term (edited): �������������� ���� ������

а еще можно заглянуть сюда http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stairway

небольшой отрывок оттуда:
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The railing system
142-metre-long Potemkin Stairs in Odessa (1834-41) was made famous by Sergei Eisenstein in his movie Battleship Potemkin (1925).
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142-metre-long Potemkin Stairs in Odessa (1834-41) was made famous by Sergei Eisenstein in his movie Battleship Potemkin (1925).

The balustrade is the complete system of railings and pickets that prevents people from falling over the edge.

* banister, railing or handrail - The angled member for handholding, as distinguished from the vertical pickets which hold it up for stairs that are open on one side; there is often a railing on both sides, sometimes only on one side or not at all, on wide staircases there is sometimes also one in the middle, or even more. The term "banister" is sometimes used to mean just the handrail, or sometimes the handrail and the balusters or sometimes just the balusters[1].
o volute - A handrail for the bullnose step that is shaped like a spiral. Volutes may be right or lefthanded depending on which side of the stairs they occur when facing up the stairs.
o turnout - Instead of a complete spiral volute, a turnout is a quarter-turn rounded end to the handrail.
o gooseneck - The vertical handrail that joins a sloped handrail to a higher handrail on the balcony or landing is a gooseneck.
o rosette - Where the handrail ends in the wall and a half-newel is not used, it may be trimmed by a rosette.
o easings - Wall handrails are mounted directly onto the wall with wall brackets. At the bottom of the stairs such railings flare to a horizontal railing and this horizontal portion is called a "starting easing". At the top of the stairs, the horizontal portion of the railing is called a "over easing".
o core rail - Wood handrails often have a metal core to provide extra strength and stiffness, especially when the rail has to curve against the grain of the wood. The archaic term for the metal core is "core rail".
* baluster - A term for the vertical pickets that hold the handrail. Sometimes simply called guards or spindles. Treads often require two balusters. The second baluster is closer to the riser and is taller than the first. The extra height in the second baluster is typically in the middle between decorative elements on the baluster. That way the bottom decorative elements are aligned with the tread and the top elements are aligned with the railing angle. However, this means the first and second balusters are manufactured separately and cannot be interchanged. Balusters without decorative elements can be interchanged.
* newel - A large picket or post used to anchor the handrail. Since it is a structural element, it extends below the floor and subfloor to the bottom of the floor joists and is bolted right to the floor joist. A half-newel may be used where a railing ends in the wall. Visually, it looks like half the newel is embedded in the wall. For open landings, a newel may extend below the landing for a decorative newel drop.
* baserail - For systems where the baluster does not start at the treads, they go to a baserail. This allows for identical balusters, avoiding the second baluster problem.
* fillet - A decorative filler piece on the floor between balusters on a balcony railing.

Handrails may be continuous or post-to-post (or more accurately ""newel-to-newel""). For continuous handrails on long balconies, there may be multiple newels and tandem caps to cover the newels. At corners, there are quarter-turn caps. For post-to-post systems, the newels project above the handrails.

Another, more classical, form of handrailing which is still in use is the Tangent method. A variant of the Cylindric method of layout, it allows for continuous climbing and twisting rails and easings. Originally defined from principles set down by architect Peter Nicholson in the 18th century.
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Other terminology
Historical photo of staircase in Ford plant in Los Angeles
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Historical photo of staircase in Ford plant in Los Angeles

* balcony - For stairs with an open concept upper floor or landing, ....

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Note added at 19 mins (2005-10-17 11:56:01 GMT)
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protective arcs - тоже наверное подойдет, по-моему.