National transporter Indian Railways (IR) has decided to replace its tracks with high-speed rails of grade R-350 HT to improve the average speed of passenger trains across its network, a government official said on Wednesday, August 23.
IR has issued guidelines for the adoption of R-350 HT for its track network, stating that, since this grade of rails is widely used across the world and is a “proven grade”, no field trials will be required during the replacement phase.
Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) will shortly commence production of this grade of rails at its Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP). SAIL has already secured quality certification for this product from the IR’s affiliated Railway Design and Standards Organization (RDSO).
IR is expected to start floating tenders for procurement of R-350 HT shortly, the official said.
It may be mentioned that Indian steel producer Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) has also undertaken a project at its Angul steel mill in Odisha to set up a unit for production of high-speed rails.
IR has a track network of 92,952 kms but no information is available regarding how much of this network will be replaced and the timeline for the completion of the project.