Tata Steel has signed a contract to supply wear-resistant rails for the Crossrail project beneath the heart of London. The Crossrail route will serve 40 stations and travel more than 100km from Reading and Heathrow in the west, through new twin-bore 21km tunnels below central London to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the company said it has already commenced deliveries to the Crossrail project, and will ultimately supply the project with more than 57km of its heat treated, wear-resistant rail. "In total 7,000 tonnes of Tata Steel rail will be used to create one of Europe's largest railway and infrastructure projects," the statement added.

Gerard Glas, Tata Steel's Rail Sector Head, said: "The Crossrail project will have a huge impact on improving the commuting experience in London and we are delighted to be a part of that. "Our premium heat-treated rail is produced using a unique patented process which ensures it has exceptional wear resistance."

"Rather than using traditional methods of heating and cooling, Tata Steel has developed a system where the rail moves through an induction furnace which uses an electromagnetic field to heat the steel to 950°C. The rail is then rapidly cooled using compressed air. The resulting uniquely low residual stresses provide further protection against risk of rail failure compared to other in-line heat treatment processes," he added.

The steel will be manufactured at Tata Steel's Scunthorpe site in the UK before being rolled at the company's Hayange mill in northern France.

 

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

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