Voestalpine New Rail Rolling Mill: Successful Start-up Well Ahead of Schedule
08 February 2006
Five days ahead of the schedule announced in November last year, the hot commissioning of voestalpine's new rail rolling mill in Leoben-Donawitz, Austria took place on January 31, 2006. The first rails produced have been UIC 60 section.
“We are very happy about this success, we have precisely realised what we announced,” says Hans Pfeiler, Chairman of the Managing Board of voestalpine Schienen GmbH. “Our team has worked in close cooperation with the Danieli experts day and night from the shut-down of the old mill two months ago. Following a detailed activity plan, the old line has been removed and replaced by the new mill in record time. We can actually say that with the successful start of hot operation, a new era of rail production has just begun. The customer benefit is now more than ever the centre of all our activities.”
The new voestalpine rail rolling mill, which has been built together with the Italian plant supplier Danieli, is the most modern in the world. It offers unique technologies like ultra-flexible rolling (UFR) which allows for just-in-time production of rails, in addition to a further considerable reduction of tolerances. The total investment value has amounted to €66 million.
Voestalpine Schienen GmbH, an affiliated company of the voestalpine Division Railway Systems as part of the voestalpine AG group, is the leading producer of rails in Europe. Based on advanced technologies (such as the largest available family of premium rail steel grades), comprehensive system competence (for example life-cycle cost strategies) and target-focused service orientation, voestalpine Schienen has a worldwide reputation for leadership in customer benefit.
