TRACK TECHNOLOGY
In the last edition of RTM, we looked at one way of dealing with extreme winter conditions on the third rail network – heated rails. But there is another and more direct way to clear snow. Adam Hewitt reports.
T
he world’s largest railway snow melter has recently been unveiled in a country that has its fair share of the white stuff: Sweden.
Railcare, based in Skellefteå on Sweden’s east coast, says its new SR 700 is intended for strategic railway yards and depots, with the capacity to clear 700m every 30 min- utes.
The SR 700 was born out of frustration with two very harsh winters in Sweden, which caused innumerable problems on the rail- ways, prompting the Swedish Transport Administration, Trafikverket, and Railcare to work together on a solution.
Yngve Handspik, coordinator at Trafikver- ket in Stockholm, said: “Snow clearance on the railway is a dangerous and often manual job, which causes incidents and ac- cidents. Making this more automated defi- nitely improves overall safety.
“Our overall intention is to restore the public’s confidence in the railway for trans-
50 | rail technology magazine Feb/Mar 12
port of both passengers and freight. This is crucial in order to maintain the railway’s position as an interesting and environmen- tal friendly alternative to other means of transportation.”
Ulf Marklund, managing director of Rail- care Group, said: “The SR 700 definitely reduces the problems caused by snow and helps the railway operators to keep up the traffic during the harsh winter months.”
The research was possible thanks to a com- bination of existing modules and Railcare’s long experience of snow clearance using vacuum technology, Marklund said.
At the front of the set, which includes the locomotive and water container wagon, there are large brushes that clear the snow from a 5-meter wide area, transporting it into a shaft and further into the container wagon. There are only two people operat- ing the complete snow clearing train: one snow brush operator and a train driver.
The snow is melted in a specially-developed
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