The shipment of 5,000 metre rails is on its way to city by road on special trailers of 60 ft length having arrived in Mumbai

The first lot of 5,000 metre rails from Tata Steel, France, for the Hyderabad Metro Rail project is on the way to the capital by road on special trailers of 60 ft length having arrived by ship to Mumbai few days ago.
These rails which are 18 metres long and weigh about 1,100 kg each will soon be laid down as tracks in the Uppal depotofficials of the L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad (L&TMRH) announced on Wednesday.
The ‘wear resistant head hardened rails’ are being procured to cater to the sharp curves and steep gradients in the project. The rails are more durable and with a life span of double to that of the traditional rails.
These rails are also used in all major railway projects in the world as well as the country, the officials said.
“It’s another important milestone for the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project giving an indication about the progress of the works. The track laying work will be commencing soon in the Uppal Depot. It also marks the beginning of the utilisation of international expertise for the project,” said L&TMRH Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director V.B. Gadgil.
The CEO pointed out that due to the sharp curves across the three corridors where the metro is under construction, check rails are being provided on all curves of less than 190m radius. This is to prevent the trains from derailing while negotiating such sharp curves. Check rails are 18 metres long and weigh about 600 kg each.
Earlier, L&TMRH head of railway systems, Anil Kumar Saini, personally inspected the first lot of rails at the Tata Steel plant in France before they were shipped to Mumbai from Antwerp. The metro rail project to be built across the 72 km across the three corridors will need a total of 22,500 metric tonnes of rails. The rails will be procured in six lots as per the project schedule, officials said.