The track construction work for the Gujarat portion of Bullet Train project is progressing swiftly with the commencement of welding of rails on the viaduct in Gujarat.
“Rails for the project are procured from Japan with a length of 25 meters each. These rails are welded together by the state-of-the-art fusion welding (FBW) machines, on MAHSR ( Mumbai Ahmedabad High Speed Rail) viaduct, to make 200 meters long rail panels. Till date, 298 such rail panels have been welded i.e. around 60 km of rails” said an official of National High Speed Rail Corporation ( NHSRCL).
According to National High Speed Rail Corporation, the rail welding process is crucial for ensuring the passenger comfort, durability and safety of the track for high speed travel. Before rail welding, the rail ends are grinded and surface preparation which ensures a pristine surface for the crucial joining of rails. Each rail is checked to meet the dimensional requirements for welding. Once the rails are perfectly aligned, they are joined together using flash butt welding technology. After that weld is inspected by using magnetic particle and ultrasonic testing for detection of flaw and if any flaw is detected in the weld the same is replaced, by new weld and alignment is checked by special rail tread measuring equipment (procured from Japan).
After going through the rigorous procedure, the 200 m long rail panels are spreader by a special rail feeder car to lay, temporary track, at Standard Gauge, to facilitate movement of sophisticated high end machineries like Slab Laying Car, CAM Injection Cars etc. Later on these rails are fixed on the Track slab through rail fasteners, for final track.
“Dedicated Track Construction Bases (TCBs) are being planned and constructed to facilitate track construction including handling of rails, track slabs, machineries and equipment on ground and at the viaduct. They also serve as a base for engineers & other man-power working for track construction.
Four track construction bases, two in between Surat & Bilimora and two in between Vadodara & Anand in the state of Gujarat have been made operational, at present” said am official of NHSRCL.
The entire process of track installation is mechanized with cutting edge machinery especially designed and manufactured, as per Japanese specifications, in India or directly purchased from Japan. Four sets (04) of track construction machineries have been arranged, so far, for the project. The fleet of machines include rail feeder car, track slab laying car, related wagons and motor cars, CAM laying car and flash butt welding machines..
RC Track Bed construction has commenced over multiple locations in Anand, Vadodara, Surat & Navsari district in Gujarat. And, nearly 64 track km of RC track bed construction has been completed.
According to NHSRCL, track slabs are being separately casted in dedicated track slab manufacturing facilities set up in Kim (near Surat) and in Anand. These factories are equipped with the most sophisticated and state-of-the-art technologies and infrastructure to produce precise slabs for track construction. As on date, more than 23,000 slabs have been cast which are equivalent to 118 track km.
To understand the methodology of Shinkansen track construction works, extensive Training and Certification (T&C) courses are being organised for the engineers, work leaders and technicians on various activities. Around 1000 engineers will get world class skills for track installation and maintenance under the guidance of Japanese experts in relevant fields.
