Located in the south-western part of the country, Kaohsiung is Taiwan’s second most populated city. This metropolis of 2.77 million inhabitants is expanding its transportation system with the construction of the first tramway system in Taiwan. ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products provided 2,000 tonnes of grooved rails to this ambitious project.

One of the biggest tramway projects in South East Asia

ArcelorMittal now has delivered the last lot of grooved rails for the first phase of Kaohsiung’s Light Rail System (LRT) in Taiwan. With over 2,000 tonnes of rails, produced by ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products in Rodange (Luxembourg), this is by far one of the biggest tramway projects in South East Asia.

Kaohsiung LRT is the first light rail system in Taiwan. Also known as the Circular Line, it interchanges two metro lines which cross the city and meet in the centre. Light rail trains have low floors, providing a disabled-friendly riding environment that helps promote public use of mass transportation.

The customer once again relied on ArcelorMittal Grooved Rails and more specifically on our Low Carbon Vanadium (LCV) Grade R260V.

ArcelorMittal Grooved Rails: the best option for city transport

The use of Low Carbon Vanadium (LCV) rails with the addition of very small amounts (less than 0.20%) of Vanadium, actually provides an increased grain refinement throughout the entire rail, not just the outer surface (as rolled Head Hardened rails). This technique results in increased hardness and elongation compared to rails in grade R200, but with even lower Carbon content. Also, thanks to the higher strain and grain refinement, after only six months of service, track hardness readings increases up to 30-45 HBW due to wheel/rail interaction of cold forging.

In addition, since rolling stock wheels are associated with lower speed and low axle weight, the actual wheels do a smooth grinding on softer steel rails, effectively helping to self-maintain embedded tracks. This is by far the best method to avoid any Rail Contact Fatigue (RCF) or head checks commonly associated with as-rolled Hardened rails.

In fact, experience has shown Low Carbon (softer steel) rails are most suitable for City Transit embedded tracks due to their Low Carbon content allowing for best welding and deposit welding techniques. Thus, extending the life of the rail, and avoiding the high cost of replacing embedded grooved rail and street disruption.

The Kaohsiung LRT project started in 2013 and the line is partly in service now. Proud of our contribution to phase I and with leading Global R&D Rail dedicated centres, we are confident to be well positioned to be a preferred supplier in the second phase of the project as well.

Focus on grooved rails

Grooved rail is essentially a transportation rail similar to the one that you would see in the metro, but designed for tramways. Grooved rails enable tramways rails to be laid in a road surface and allow mix traffic without being an inconvenience for other road users. Thanks to its built-in groove, it allows space for the wheel flange. Profile weight ranges from 52 Kg/m up to 62 Kg/m.


Text: ArcelorMittal Europe Communication

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ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products provided 46,000 tonnes of rails for the Casablanca –Tangier high-speed rail line project in Morocco. ArcelorMittal is the sole rail supplier for the first phase of the project which consists of a 200 km long section between Kenitra and Tangier.

Sole steel supplier for the Kenitra-Tangier line

ArcelorMittal is the sole steel supplier for the first phase of this project, and provided 46,000 tonnes of rails produced in ArcelorMittal España, at the Veriña site. We were able to offer the customer rails that combine excellent reliability, geometrical precision, strict flatness tolerance and the highest quality on the market.

Our 60E1 R260Mn rails measuring 36 metres long, have a lower wear than our R260 standard grade. They also fulfil all the requirements for high-speed railways.

•     Safety
•     Comfort
•     Durability and cost efficiency
•     Minimum acoustic impact
•     Service
•     Environmentally-friendly

The line between Casablanca and Tangier is the first step in ONCF*’s project to create 1,500 kilometers of railways in Morocco. It will significantly reduce traveling time from Casablanca to Tangier (from 4 hours 45 to around 2 hours).

The 200 km track between Kenitra and Tangier will be linked to the existent rail line between Kenitra and Casablanca. With trains running at a speed of 320 km/h, it will be possible to travel from Kenitra to Tangier in only 47 minutes.

The project is expected to be completed in 2017 and the new line will be in service in 2018.

*ONCF (Office National des Chemins de Fer du Maroc)

The ArcelorMittal Rail Mill in Gijón, Spain, now produces head-hardened asymmetric rails, a high value-added product that only a few steel plants in the world can offer: These high value-added rails are used in specific applications in railway networks, essentially in rail switches.

The production of head-hardened asymmetric rails further diversifies ArcelorMittal Asturias’ product range and allows it to access new markets. Subject to very demanding technical specifications, the manufacture of this product is a complex and technologically sophisticated process.

These high value-added rails are used in specific applications in railway networks, essentially in rail switches. Although it represents only a relatively small production volume, the addition of this new profile to ArcelorMittal Asturias’ product mix means that the Rail Mill will now be able to participate in rail supply tenders it could not take part in before, as a frequent pre-condition in such tenders is that the supplier must be able to produce all the types of rails required.　

Innovative & exclusive

If head-hardened rails are a product that only the most technologically advanced manufacturers can offer, asymmetric rails with this thermal treatment are an even more exclusive product, within the scope of very few mills in the world. The development work that has led to the production of this new product was carried out entirely by ArcelorMittal.

Product diversification, market expansion and R & D focus are ArcelorMittal Rail's strategic basis. Following these axes, new investments and developments were launched: Head hardened rail at Veriña mill and 120m length rail at Dabrowa mill.

The head hardened rail improves the quality and durability of rails, increasing safety in the railway. Tracks for heavy haul, with high traffic intensity, small-radius curves and steep inclines requires rails with increasing wear resistance, reducing the rolling contact fatigue compared to standard rails.

The hardening process is based on head controlled cooling, once the rolling process is finished; with this controlled cooling, the internal microstructure is reinforced, allowing greater loads with less wear.

A multifunctional team of R & D, along with the Engineering Division and production, designed an alternative method for cooling the rail head based on the controlled application of water pressure.

The system consists of a "tunnel" that maintains the high temperature of rolled rail, an induction furnace and a cooling with nozzles that spray water with different settings according to the type of steel and the required geometry of each rail.

In order to be aligned with customer requirements based on durability increase of rails, maintenance costs reduction and, on top, increasing the security factor, ArcelorMittal implemented an investment that has just finished in Dabrowa for 120m length rail.

In the heart of Europe, the investment is designed to position ArcelorMittal as the main supplier of the Railway Administrations, in Central and Eastern Europe. This mill is one of only three sites in the world capable of producing 120m rails for the railway industry.

The new installation in Dabrowa comes as ArcelorMittal Europe has been selected by Deutsche Bahn after winning an open tender, to supply 129,000 tonnes of rails to the German railway company in 2014, together with ArcelorMittal's Gijón site in Spain.