New Superior alloy for Rail Production by SAIL
State-owned Steel Authority of India (SAIL) has commenced the production of world-quality new alloy rail tracks (R-260 grade rail) for Indian Railways at its Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), Chhattisgarh.
The R-260 grade rail has been made with micro-alloyed steel for the desired quality, profile, and specification to meet the requirements of Indian Railways for higher speed and higher axle load. To fulfill this, SAIL’s Bhilai plant is now producing and supplying the desired R-260 grade vanadium alloyed rails with a new 60E1 profile to Indian Railways.
With a perfectly engineered 60E1 profile, the quality of the special R-260 grade rails is considered superior to the rail tracks being used in European countries. The advanced rail track facilitates the running of high-speed trains along with the freight trains for the swift movement of goods.
The R-260 grade Rail steel in new profile 60E1 has been rolled out from the new and modern Universal Rail Mill (URM) along with Rail & Structural Mill (RSM) in Bhilai. Notably, URM manufactures the world’s longest 130-meter rails in a single piece. Both the URM & RSM supply long rails up to 260 meters in length as long welded panels (LWP).
The specification of the new R-260 grade rail has been issued by the Indian Railways Research and Development wing (RDSO). R-260 grade is more stringent than the European specifications on many parameters, including the hydrogen content of 1.6 ppm (max.) in steel as compared to 2.5 ppm (max.) specified in the European specification.
The state-of-art rail tracks with high strength of more than 550 MPa (Mega Pascal) will allow the Indian Railways to withstand more rigorous rail traffic along with better durability. Further, the Vanadium micro-alloyed steel provides higher yield strength and the new grade will ensure cleaner steel and better mechanical properties.
The new R260 grade was first developed and rolled out by SAIL’s Bhilai Steel Plant in June last year. The Plant had supplied more than 12,000 Tonnes (T) of the new grade to Indian Railways in the last fiscal year.
With the requirement of R260 grade rails in 60E1 profile only by Indian Railways, the production of the new grade of rails has been resumed and stabilized in Universal Rail Mill and Rail & Structural Mill with new 60E1 profile. In April and May 2021, more than 56,000 tonnes of 60 E-1 profile rail of R-260 grade were rolled out and out of which about 50,000 tonnes have already been sent to Indian Railways.
As rail makers to the country, SAIL’s Bhilai Steel Plant has been playing an imperative role in the day-to-day operations of the Indian Railways. SAIL-BSP has manufactured the desired volume, length, and quality of rails to meet the changing requirements and progressively improving standards to roll out world-class rails.
