Voestalpine Shows New Crosstie Ahead of Toronto Installation
Written by Kevin Smith, Editor-in-Chief, International Railway Journal
IRJ at Railway Interchange 2019: Voestalpine is exhibiting a concrete sleeper with a new fastening system designed to offer the strength and gauge holding ability of a concrete sleeper with the modulus of wood.
The Keyway crosstie developed by Voestalpine subsidiary Voestalpine Railway System Nortrak, features a specially-designed ductile plate and pad that is positioned beneath the e-Clip fastener. While standard track with concrete ties exhibits a PSI of 7,000, the fastening reduces this to 3,000 PSI, comparable with the performance of a wooden tie. These features allow the sleeper to be mixed with wooden sleepers as they reach the end of their service life enabling fast individual replacement rather than complete track renewal.
Tests of the system took place at Transportation Technology Center Inc. (TTCI) during the past year, and Voestalpine will begin installation of 600 ties with Metrolinx/GO Transit in Toronto by the end this month. The objective is to replace all of the commuter railway’s wooden ties over the next 25 years.
