The Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO), under the Ministry of Railways, has approved the newly developed 60E1 1175 heat-treated (HT) rails of Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL).
JSPL is the first and only Indian manufacturer to develop 60E1 1175 HT rails suitable for high-speed and high axle load applications.
The Indian Railways has projected a requirement of 1.8 lakh tpa of this high-grade 60E1 1175 (HT) rails. It has embarked upon upgrading the Indian railway track system to carry 25 million tonne axle load and up to 200 km per hour speed.
The 60E1 1175 HT rails is a superior grade to 1080 HH and will be used by the Indian Railways for heavier loads and high-speed application.
The Board had earlier accorded approval for JSPL manufactured 60E1 1080 HH rails. These rails are primarily used by the Metro Rail Corporations, High-Speed Corridors and Bullet Trains.
JSPL’s Gr 880 rails have also been approved by the Railway Board as a regular supplier to the Indian Railways.
Apart from 880 Grade main track rails, the company has also started supplying 1080 grade head hardened rails to several Metro rails projects which include Rail Vikas Nigam for construction of the Kolkata Metro Rail Project and Pune Metro.
JSPL has also developed special rails, asymmetric rails, R260, and 1175HT grades for heavy load carrying wagon units of 75 tonne per wagon.
The company’s manufacturing capacity for 60E1 1175 HT rails has been assessed as 3.24 lakh tpa by the Railway Board, which is more than enough to meet the full annual demand of the Indian Railways, Metro Rail Corporations, High-Speed Corridors.
It is also exporting rails to countries such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the African continent. It is also supplying specialty rail blooms for special rails to France for European railways.