British Steel is building a new £10 million rail stocking facility, the biggest of its kind in the country.
The facility, at the company’s Scunthorpe site, is scheduled to be completed this summer and will stock around 25,000 tonnes of 108-metre finished rail.
The investment is part of our British Steel’s strategy to support the supply of 56E1 and 60E2 section rails for Network Rail, ensuring there is rail stock readily available for its supply chain.
Rails stocked in the new facility will all have undergone the stringent testing and quality assurance checks required to meet the specification to allow immediate dispatch or welding into 216-metre lengths to the customer.
The facility will boast 11 multi-gantry hoists to lift finished rail stock to customer rolling stock. From there it will be transported for installation on mainline routes within the UK.
All civils were completed before Christmas, and workers are now erecting the main towers and gantry sections. Future works include the installation of the hoist and permanent magnet systems, including electrical installation and integration, which will be used to lift and load the rails in packs of four in and out of the individual rail pens.
Currently, rails are stored in a number of locations across the country but once the new purpose-built facility is open, it will provide a dedicated storage location to ensure rails can be safely handled, stored and available for loading in a central UK location.
Image credit: British Steel
