OREANDA-NEWS.   The first lot of 100-meter head-hardened R65 DT-350 rails manufactured by EVRAZ ZSMK have been shipped to RZhD (Russian Railways). EVRAZ is the only company in Russia and CIS - and only the third worldwide - to have launched the production and supply of this innovative product.

The first delivery of EVRAZ's 100-meter rails was shipped to Oktyabrskaya Railway, which comprises the railway infrastructure of the North and West of Russia and which includes the high-speed railways connecting Moscow and Saint-Petersburg, and Saint-Petersburg and Helsinki. Previously RZhD had purchased the rails required for its high-speed railways (with speeds up to 160-200 km/h) abroad.

"This is another high technology product added to EVRAZ's portfolio that complies with advanced quality standards. Not only will it help us reinforce our home market positions, but also to discover new export opportunities", – says Ilya Shirokobrod, EVRAZ's Vice President, Head of the Railway Products Division. – We seek to continuously improve the range of our railway products, and intend to certify DT350CC rails for combined high-speed traffic (lines with speeds up to 350-400 km/h) before the end of this year. To this end, the rails have successfully passed the lab tests and a pilot delivery of these rails has already been made to in-track tests in Scherbinka (RZhD test loop)".

It was made possible to produce the first Russian 100-meter rails by the modernization project of EVRAZ ZSMK Rail and Beam mill, commenced back in 2009. The project investment exceeded 18 billion Rubles, and the capacity of the mill now amounts to 950 thousand tons of rail products annually. In November 2013 EVRAZ ZSMK obtained the license to produce head-hardened rails.