Head-Hardened Rails
A new era for rails
Rail transportation has been undergoing a global renaissance with the onset of the 21st century. In terms of proportional hauling capacity, the railway is the most eco-friendly and energy-efficient transportation means on land. And its performance potential has not been fully tapped, by far.
The new demands are complex and frequently even divergent. It's simply impossible to meet these demands suitably with the traditional rail steel qualities, which have been in use for more than 60 years now. What is required at present is maximum durability against wear and material fatigue due to stresses unknown up to now and caused by escalating train frequencies, speeds and axle loads. And all this at the lowes possible maintenance expenditures and longest possible life span.
This is the answer of voestalpine Schienen as innovation pioneer:
Our HSH® steel grade familiy (HSH: Head Special Hardened) offers a specific solution for any rail transport mode. And as the sole company world-wide we deliver heat-treated rails in a length of 120 m.
In view of the emerging new era, going from standard grade rails currently in use toward high-strength, heat-treated rail steel grades, voestalpine Schienen has successfully made a new large-scale investment at the onset of 2009: the completely new construction of the heat-treating facility.
With this new high-tech unit, whose erection is based on our own patented technology, voestalpine paves the way towards an extensive deployment of a new premium rail generation - to the sustainable benefit of its customers.
Moreover, the facility's special conception enables, even in the future, a production-related accompaniment of all imaginable material developments in the area of heat-treated rail steels.
