The Technical University of Graz, Austria, on Thursday announced the opening of a railway testing laboratory, which it says is unique in Europe.
The Railway Transport and Infrastructure Laboratory (RaIL) will be able, among other criteria, to check the wear of rails during their service life. The laboratory is the latest major project of the University's Institute of Railway Infrastructure Design. The institute's research complements the activities of the Austrian steel company voestalpine, which manufactures rails and other railway components. According to Kallanisch from the Austrian Chamber of Commerce Wirtschaftskammer Österreich (WKÖ), one of the institute's current research projects is aimed at developing lighter steels for trains. Stronger steels with a lower weight are being developed in Graz. Although harder steels are more difficult to weld, the institute is simultaneously developing the appropriate welding technology, according to the WKÖ website. As an example, the chamber refers to locomotives of the Taurus type, weighing about 86 tons, and the fleet of the Austrian railway operator ÖBB totals 384 units.
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, ,, Author: Christian Kel Germany,
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