Alstom Sends Slab Cutting Technology to be Tested in Russia

Image Courtesy of Alstom Transport

Alstom have released their latest slab cutting technology to be lifecycle tested in Russia. Russian Railways started the tests on 15th November in their facilities in Sherbinka near Moscow in the presence of Valentin Gapanovich, Senior Vice-President of the Russian Railways. The project will include the assessment of varies slab tracks and will be tested in local weather conditions, with the hope that this cutting edge technology will be implemented in very high speed lines in the future.

Alstom Slab Cutting Tests

Whilst testing the first phase the Russian Railways research centre will run a loaded train along the section at 80km/h. If successful, the track will be sent to the next testing phase where longer track is used at higher speeds. It is expected that by 2016, the tracks will be able to carry up to 600 millions tonnes.

The infrastructural solution we offer in Sherbinka can be an important contribution to the future modernisation of the railway network in Russia, not only for high speed and very high speed lines, but also for urban transport. Our NBT technology used in this project has already been proven effective thanks to a 1 km double-track section on the Gisors-Serqueux main line in France, in operation since December 2013, said Thibault Desteract, Alstom Transport Senior Vice-President for CIS region.

Slab track is a modern solution, which may significantly decrease the lifecycle cost of the tracks, as it reduces maintenance costs by almost half, compared to the standard ballast tracks.