Swedish ties, American fasteners

Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-In-Chief, Railway Age
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Pandrol FASTCLIP FE

Pandrol's FASTCLIP FE fastening system has been chosen as the preferred fastening for a Trafikverket (TRV, Swedish Transport Administration) 20-year framework agreement with Swedish producers of concrete crossties.

Pandrol worked with concrete crosstie manufacturers Strangbetong Rail AB and Abetong AB in responding to a TRV national procurement for Sweden’s railways. The tender included delivery of pre-assembled fastening systems and under-tie pads. The contract will cover typical annual volumes of around 400,000 ties.

In addition to the fastening systems, Pandrol will also be supplying its CDM-USP under-tie pads through subsidiary company Pandrol CDM Track. The pads are tailor-made resilient systems designed to reduce track maintenance, increase track quality and provide vibration mitigation by fixing elastic elements to the bottom surface of the ties. Pandrol says CDM-USP pads “are proven to reduce rail corrugation, especially in tight-radius curves, extending the grinding interval by at least a factor of two, while also providing vibration insulation up to 15 dB.

The FASTCLIP FE “is the latest evolution of elastic rail fastening systems,” says Pandrol. “It is a value-engineered variant of the FASTCLIP system and can be used in all applications where FASTCLIP FC is currently used. The development of the FE system responds to commercial pressures to continually drive down costs within the railway industry, and achieves significant overall cost savings for railway operators and infrastructure contractors, without any compromise to the performance of the assembly. The new design reduces the working profile of the system while enhancing performance and functionality.

“FASTCLIP is an economical fastening designed as a total system in which all components are delivered to the job site pre-assembled on the concrete ties. Once the ties are laid and the rail is installed, the clip is simply pushed onto the rail by means of a simple drive action. This switch on-switch off capability encourages mechanization of the installation and extraction processes for renewals and maintenance. Machines currently available from Rosenqvist, a Pandrol company, provide an accelerated installation capability of up to 70 ties per minute.”

“We have a long history of working with Trafikverket, and the Pandrol team placed customer focus at the heart of its efforts engaging positively with the tie makers to build alliances,” said Pandrol Managing Director EMEA Region Wayne Peacock. “Our bid was built on a recognition of TRV’s environmental goals. We will deliver value for the money, sustained product quality and a high level of product support to demonstrate that Pandrol continues to be the best choice of fastening supplier.”

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