Leading integrated steel producer Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL) is fast-tracking innovations in its rails manufacturing and rails blooms business both with an eye on the export market as well as catering to the requirements of India Railways.
Some of the new grades the company is presently manufacturing are essential for purposes of greater load bearing and wear resistance. These include 60 E-1, R-260 high-strength rails, Grade 1080 HH (heat treated or head hardened rails) that increase wear resistance and load bearing capacity, Grade 1175 HH rails for ultra heavy traffic and wear resistance and Grade ZU-160 asymmetric rails.
The Indian Railways currently uses Grade 880 rails that have less life compared to grades like R-260, 1080 HH and 1175 HH.
The new grades are meant to meet the Railways’ ambitious new projects and freight corridors, informs VR Sharma, Managing Director, JSPL.
“The Railways want to increase the load bearing capacity of wagons from the existing 64 tonnes to 75 tonnes or, say, 25 tonnes per axle at par with American and Chinese standards. The aim is to boost overall efficiency,” says Sharma.
JSPL has started supplying head hardened rails to metro railways. The first such order has been received from the Kolkata Metro Railways. The construction and track laying part of the project will be carried out by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL).
The steel-maker has bagged an order from France for supply of rail blooms. The company has entered into a long-term understanding with France Rails for supply of 200,000 tonnes of rail blooms every year. “JSPL’s blooms are widely considered ideal for manufacture of special rails. Rail manufacturers from Australia, Belgium and Britain have also shown interest in procuring JSPL blooms,” says Sharma.
The company supplies 234/260 metre long rail panels to Indian Railways and its vendors so that laying becomes easier and just three welds are required per kilometre at site.
“Earlier, Railways was using 13 metre and 26 metre rails. These small rails were taken to various rail welding yards and thereafter transported to different sites. There is a great amount of savings now both in terms of time and cost because from the steel mills the 234/260 metre long rails panels are directly despatched through special rakes to different sites,” informs Sharma.
“With a capacity of 1 MnT per annum of rails manufacturing in different grades, JSPL is geared up to meet the ambitious plans of the Railways as the first private sector rails manufacturer and the second steel producer in India after state-owned SAIL to take up the task of upgrading the country’s rail network,” avers Sharma.
~ By Nirmalya Deb
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