Since February (2019), our stationary milling machine has been extended with a new milling wheel. This means that we can now also mill 49E1 rail profiles symmetrically. The extension has facilitated the production of preventively milled rails for the light rail sector.
For the Dutch main railway network, the application of symmetrically milled rails has been compulsory for some time now. Preventively milled rails considerably reduce the time span during which the railway cannot be used, and yield a remarkable improvement of rail quality. And what’s more, owing to this adjustment, also the light rail market is now able to profit from our services.
During preventive milling, the decarbonised surface layer of the rail is symmetrically removed in one operation in conditioned circumstances. This layer has a thickness of at least 0.7 mm. By executing this task prior to the installation of the rail, the downtime is considerably shortened. In addition, it turns out that after the preventively milled rails are installed, there is no need for an additional first and second cyclical grinding operation.
Prior to the rails’ use, it is important to remove their ‘mill scale’ to prevent premature damage. This prolongs the rails’ life span.
The rails are milled symmetrically in our milling factory. In this way, the trains can use both sides of the rail instead of only one side. As a result, issues such as the direction in which the train moves or the direction into which the rail is delivered are no longer of any concern. And this makes the work of the railway contractors much easier.
And last but not least, preventive milling has one other large advantage. During the milling process, no heat is infused into the rail surface. In this way, any hardening or blue-staining is prevented.
With respect to the criteria ‘surface roughness’, ‘length profile’ and ‘cross section profile’ in accordance with the SPC00011-1, we meet the prerequisites as stated in the infra Light rail regulation Doc. 20160520_MSO_regulation-grinding (2)
Are you also interested in milled rails with a longer lifespan for light rail trajectories? Feel free to contact our international sales department.