DB Cargo and British Steel to supply Belgium with brand new rail tracks
British Steel will supply Belgium with 100-metre-long rail tracks that Infrabel, the country’s infrastructure manager, will use to maintain and renew the rail network. The cargo will be delivered by convoys run by DB Cargo. As DB Cargo UK pointed out, the plan is to run one train per month for the next four years.
The first convoy left British Steel’s Rail and Section Mill in Scunthorpe, east of Manchester, on 9 June with destination Muizen, north of Brussels, where Infrabel carries out this type of activity. DB Cargo UK is taking care of the first section of the journey from Scunthorpe to Calais. From there, DB Cargo France is completing the route to Belgium. The rails loaded on the train will measure 100 metres in length, taking over four wagons each.
British Steel exporting rail components
British Steel is not new to international collaborations concerning rail. In March, the company received an order for 244,000 steel rail sleepers to be delivered to Guinea, in West Africa. These sleepers “will be used to upgrade the railway line at a bauxite mine in the mineral-rich country”, as British Steel said. Guinea is in fact one of the world leaders in the supply of bauxite. Choosing steel sleepers instead of concrete ones is much more efficient in terms of transportation. Moreover, they are much stronger than wood sleepers, which are the most common in Africa.
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