Indian Railway Experiencing Stainless Steel Glory : From Bridges, Wagons,Coaches, to Toilets

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 over 25 million passengers travel daily in Indian trains? That is more than the population of some countries. Railway for some is a means to go to work, for some, 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.

 

•  Steel Used In Bridges And Coaches

What gives railways the strength and longevity to survive though? The answer lies in the 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 material over aluminium 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 severe risk of collapse because of high salt content in marine environments. Thus railways decided to use duplex stainless steel pipes and tubes for the fabrication of the bridge.

 

•  Stainless Steel Toilets & Wagons

Indian Railways accumulate around 6000 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 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 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 has led to a weight reduction of about 2.5 tonnes and an increase in carrying capacity of about 3 tonnes with respect to the Previous wagons 

 

• Jindal Stainless and SAIL (Steel Authority India Ltd) Official Steel Supplier of Indian Railways 

In 2018 Indian Jindal Stainless held around 60% share in stainless steel coach segments. In upcoming years they would 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 100000 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 transformation in the country's transportation industry.

 

The Bottom Line

Stainless steel has been a key contributing factor in the country's infrastructure. Sturdy, strong, durable, long-lasting,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.