Company profiles

The first in a new series of IoRW corporate member company profiles:

Railtech UK Ltd

Although young in Britain, Railtech UK Ltd is part of a French group which is more than 100 years old!

The Delachaux Group

The Delachaux Group was founded in 1902. Now established in more than 45 countries with 2,100 employees, the Group is a world leader in the manufacture of products for railways and urban transit systems, electrical power and control systems, the aeronautical industry and the car industry.

Railtech International is part of the Railways Division, together with the UK-based Pandrol Group, the world market leader in rail-fastening systems.

Directed by the President of the Delachaux Group, Jean-Pierre Colliaut, the sales of Delachaux's Railways Division have grown rapidly; from 86m in 2000 to an expected 289m this year.

Railtech International

At factories in northern France, Railtech International designs and manufactures products for use in more than 60 world markets.

Through 17 subsidiaries in 12 countries and via international distributors, Railtech International exports about 88% of annual production. The products range from aluminothermic welding consumables to flash-butt welding machines, track equipment, electrical supply systems for tramways, trolley buses and metros.

Aluminothermic welding

Due to constant technical innovation and a strategy of maintaining close links with customers, Railtech International has become the predominant supplier of aluminothermic welding products in important overseas markets, such as USA and China.

For many years, the company had developed its know-how in this field based on the concept of the 'standard' or 're-usable' crucible. However in 1989, the company designed and patented a new process for producing aluminothermic steel.

The new process was to produce the weld-metal in a disposable crucible, directly set upon the top of the weld moulds without using cumbersome hardware to support it.

The 'one-shot' crucible, as it was called by Railtech, has many advantages:

• No preheating of the crucible, which could generate porosity in the weld.
• The thimble is preset in the factory, so the crucible is ready for immediate use.
• No cleaning of the crucible walls, which could produce slag inclusions in the weld.
• Much lighter weight for welders to carry

Improved weld quality

The 'one-shot' crucible thus made the welder's job quicker, easier and safer. With a factory-controlled crucible for each new weld, the certainty of weld-quality dramatically increased.

All aluminothermic welds on high-speed TGV and Eurostar lines in Britain and in France, have been performed with Railtech's one-shot crucibles.

Railtech UK Ltd

In July 2003 Railtech UK moved from its original Manchester base to new purpose-built premises at Kings Norton, Birmingham, a central location close to motorways, a railway station and the international airport.

The three-piece PLA mould invented by Railtech International, had been introduced to Britain. PLA moulds, fitted with refractory felt on the rail-contact areas, made weld-collar edges easier to clean and provided a 'self-sealing' function for the use of pre-mixed luting paste, which reduced the risk of porosity due to excess moisture.

Late in 2003, Railtech UK introduced the CJ2 'one-shot' crucible with Eco-filter for both standard and wide gap welds. The Eco-filter is small and inexpensive and protects welders' respiration effectively, especially during work in tunnels.

For example, a comparative analysis of inhaled dust (at average respiration rates) using different AT crucibles gives the following results in the table below.

New technical developments

Throughout the late summer of this year, in concert with Network Rail, Railtech UK planned the market launch of a range of new developments designed to make welders' work easier:

• A new range of PLA Hybrid step moulds for maintenance applications.

  Railtech's current PLA wear range contains four step moulds for welding up to of 7mm rail wear. The new PLA Hybrid, partly felted range, has only two moulds for up to 15mm rail wear:

  The maximum rail wear that can be PLA welded has been doubled, while the number of moulds needed has been halved.

  1. Hybrid mould type B for dissimilar wear from 4mm to 7mm and maximum wear to 15mm
  2. Hybrid mould type C for dissimilar wear up to 3mm and maximum wear to 15mm
• Polystyrene inserts in the moulds.

  All PLA standard gap moulds are to be equipped with polystyrene inserts as an aid to weld verticality. A simple, self-centering device, the polystyrene insert eliminates the risk of setting of a too-narrow weld gap. It is vaporized during the pre-heating process.

• VG2 vent risers.

  The section of the vent risers has been increased from 324 sq.mm to x 540 sq.mm in order to increase pre-heating efficiency and the flow of molten metal through the moulds.

• Oxy-fuel gas cutting of rails.

  Network Rail has approved the use of oxy-fuel gas cutting of rails prior to PLA welding. This will add to operational flexibility on track, especially in tunnel work.

• Felted PLA Bull-head moulds

  By October 05, Railtech expects to supply felted PLA moulds for 95lb Bull-head rail.

A culture of technical and logistical service

A small team of professionals, experienced in rail welding technology, logistics and finance, Railtech UK is supported by the research investment and manufacturing strength of our parent company, Railtech International, based a few hours' drive away in France.

NB. A certified analysis of the CJ2's fume control efficiency is available from Railtech UK Ltd.

Neil Souter
Railtech UK Ltd

Nigel Davis	Steve Kettle	Béatrice Kail	Neil Souter
Magali Kerbrat	Phil Kinder	Richard Kyte	Ian McGuinness