SAIL plans to begin trial production of special rails

New Delhi Steelmaker SAIL plans to start the trial production of head hardened (HH) rails, used in metro rail and freight corridor projects, by month-end, its Chairman Amarendu Prakash said. The steel PSU was earlier looking to start the trial production of HH rails in August but deferred it due to the demand for normal rails like 880 grade from the Indian Railways, Prakash told PTI in an interview. “We have the technology. We had planned for it (HH rail production) but then...they (Railways) requested us to defer the trials and now it is at the end of October,” the Chairman said. HH rails are special rails used in high-speed freight corridors and metro rail projects. Such rails are manufactured using head hardening technology to bear about 50 per cent higher pressure compared to normal rails. SAIL has set up facilities for the production of HH rails at the new Universal Rail Mill (URM) at its Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) in Chhattisgarh, and the cold trials for the same have already been completed.