INDIA: A highly automated facility for the local production of Japanese J-slab ballastless track components has opened in Anand, southeast of Ahmedabad.
Opened on September 30, the factory will produce the ballastless reinforced concrete trackbed for a 116 km section of double-track on the 508 km Mumbai – Ahmedabad high speed line. This is now is under construction, with the last of the 11 civil works packages being awarded on August 10.
J-slab has been installed across the Shinkansen high speed network in Japan, but project promoter National High Speed Rail Corp Ltd says this is the first example of the trackform being used in India. Installation of the first slabs took place at the end of August at Surat.
The facility spans an area of 10 ha. It has the capacity to produce 45 000 precast track slabs; 60 high-precision moulds have been installed which can produce one track module each per day. Approximately 200 such slabs are required per track-km. The facility can store up to 9 000 slabs on site.
The factory has been completed within eight months from the start of civil works. Before the start of production, a training and certification course was provided for the Indian engineers in Japan, organised by Japan Railway Technical Services.
Another slab track manufacturing facility is being developed at Kim, northeast of Surat. The J-slab produced here will be installed on a further 236 km of the Mumbai – Ahmedabad corridor.
