HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 5, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Worldwide industrial services and engineered products company, Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC) announced today that its Harsco Track Technologies (HTT) division has been awarded a $25 million order to build switch and crossing rail grinders for the U.K.'s Railtrack railway system.
The order continues Harsco's growing support to Railtrack, whose fleet already includes some 13 HTT "Stoneblower" track surfacing machines and one HTT P-811 Track Renewal Train, a self-contained multi-unit train used to restore and upgrade track. The Harsco switch and crossing grinders will become part of a select number of railway track maintenance units owned and directly controlled by Railtrack as "strategic plant" assets. HTT is in separate discussions for a contract covering the grinders' operation and maintenance.
Rail grinding is emerging as one of the railway industry's most effective maintenance practices for extending the life of valuable rail assets and reducing the potential for rail failures, both areas of top attention within the Railtrack organization. By regularly re-profiling rail surfaces for proper wheel/rail contact, railroads are able to reduce surface stresses and better control the risk of surface-level fatigue cracks from spreading through the rail. Harsco's HTT division is one of the industry's leading specialists in rail grinding equipment, having developed and produced over 50 such systems for major U.S. and international railroads.
All of the units to be delivered to Railtrack will include HTT's advanced dust collection and noise abatement technologies, as well as its proprietary Jupiter control system, a modular, self-diagnostic "plug and play" operating system designed for maximum reliability and simplicity. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in early 2003 and continue through the year. The units, each equipped with 20 grinding surfaces or "stones," will be assigned primarily to switches and special trackwork throughout the Railtrack system. The last two units will have the capability of being coupled together as a 40 stone machine for special production rail grinding.
Harsco Track Technologies is one of the largest and most comprehensive railroad track maintenance equipment and service organizations in the world. The division provides track maintenance services to major railroads, short lines, and transit systems, and is a single source for over 140 types and models of work equipment used in the maintenance, renewal, and new construction of railway track.
Harsco Corporation's market-leading businesses serve the infrastructure development, steel, railway transportation, and gas and energy industries. The company employs approximately 18,000 people in more than 40 countries of operation, and recorded 2001 revenues of $2.1 billion. Additional information about Harsco, including its Harsco Track Technologies division, can be found at www.harsco.com.