Indian Railways is beyond a mode of transportation. It has been continuously transforming over the years to serve passengers and tourists. It holds the credential of being the fourth-largest railway network in the world, comprising 119,630 kilometres. Do you know that over 25 million passengers travel daily on Indian trains? That is more than the population of some countries. Railway for some, the railway is a means to go to work, and for others, it's a means to reunite with loved ones after years of being apart. While for many, it’s a memory lane of some fun-filled trips enjoyed with family and friends and befriending some faces they first saw in their train coach.
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Steel Used In Bridges And Coaches
What gives railways the strength and longevity to survive, though? The answer lies in safe and sustainable infrastructure. Railways use stainless steel in their most essential components. Such as track renewal, building bridges over oceans, laying new lines, coaches, wagons, toilets, and washbasins to dustbins too. There is a reason railways trust stainless steel over aluminum or plastic. No material possesses such a high withholding capacity and anti-rust feature as stainless steel does. It became convenient to clean and sanitise the whole coach during the COVID-19 outbreak, as stainless steel is one of the easiest metals to clean. For railway bridges, it is viable to use stainless steel; many bridges in corrosive regions need constant repair and maintenance. Since they are exposed to a severe risk of collapse because of the high salt content in marine environments, Thus, the railways decided to use duplex stainless steel pipes and tubes for the fabrication of the bridge.
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Stainless Steel Toilets and Wagons
Indian Railways accumulate around 6,000 tons of solid waste from trains every day. The waste was thrown directly onto the railway tracks before. Along with the Swachchh Bharat Mission, railways came up with a stainless steel bio-toilet with the help of DRDO. Bio-toilets convert human waste into water and gas. Then these harmful by-products can easily be released without a foul smell or corrosion on tracks. But why use stainless steel? Although it is a little steep, It benefits the infrastructure because of its Eco-Friendly, user-friendly, and easy-to-clean properties.
Railways adopted stainless steel wagons as the type of open wagons, which has led to a weight reduction of about 2.5 tonnes and an increase in carrying capacity of about 3 tonnes concerning the Previous wagons
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Jindal Stainless and SAIL (Steel Authority India Ltd) Official Steel Supplier of Indian Railways
In 2018, Indian Jindal Stainless held around 60% of the share in stainless steel coach segments. In the upcoming years, they will be collaborating toward building foot-over bridges and rail bridges too. Jindal Stainless believes converting coaches into stainless steel will contribute to strengthening rail infrastructure. Over the next 4 to 5 years, Railways has the vision to convert and produce more than 100,000 stainless steel coaches every year.
The Association of Indian Railways with SAIL(Steel Authority of India Ltd) is six decades old. Overall, these years, SAIL has supplied passenger coaches, wagons, and locomotives. Primarily, they produced and supplied rail tracks or rail lines that safely handled tonnes of load, accommodating high-speed trains as well as heavy goods trains. Needless to say, the collaboration between SAIL and Indian Railways has made some tremendous transformations in the country's transportation industry.
The Bottom Line
Stainless steel has been a key contributing factor to the country's infrastructure. Sturdy, strong, durable, long-lasting, and anti-corrosive—all of these capabilities have made so many industries rely upon stainless steel for eternity. You can’t imagine the indestructible and unstoppable structure of railways without the contribution of stainless steel. If you require SS Pipes and SS Tubes for any such industrial needs, Santosh Steel & Pipes India Pvt. Ltd. is a renowned manufacturer of stainless steel pipes and stainless steel tubes in India. We have been catering to industries like automobiles, sugar mills, petrochemicals, power plants, and oil & gas. Feel free to contact us and visit our website to order the finest quality steel products.