Naturally Hard Steel Rails Development and Feedback from Service

Rail life in service can be strongly reduced by both excessive wear and extensive rolling contact fatigue (RCF) damage. Although several solutions exist on the market for premium rails, their use is limited to specific situations where specific needs arise. This work shows the outcomes of the installation of rails manufactured in naturally hard microalloyed steel in two opposite situations, i.e. in the low rail on a metro system (affected by extensive corrugation phenomena) and on the high rail of a conventional mixed-traffic railway (affected by wear and/or RCF damages). Welding procedures are analysed as well, ensuring compatibility with existing rails. Very promising results show that this steel grade could be used everywhere as replacement of the conventional rails made of R260 steel grade.