HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 21, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- (WITH PHOTO) Worldwide industrial services and products company Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC) said today that its Harsco Track Technologies (HTT) railway track maintenance division has received new orders from China for switch and crossing rail grinders totaling more than $5 million.
A photo accompanying this release can be found at the following URL: http://media.primezone.com/prs/?pkgid=306
The orders are HTT's first from China for the switch and crossing grinder configuration, and also include HTT's first from a customer outside China's central Ministry of Railways, the Guangzhou Metro System. Guangzhou Metro serves China's third largest city, formerly known as Canton.
China is becoming a major factor in HTT's increasingly successful international market expansion. Already one of the world's largest and most heavily used railway systems, the country has made railway modernization and expansion a national priority, including laying some 4,300 miles (nearly 7,000 kilometers) of new track in areas without rail service and adding lines in heavy traffic areas to ease congestion. China's growing list of HTT track maintenance equipment includes new track construction trains, mainline "production" rail grinders, and other specialty track maintenance units.
Somewhat smaller than their mainline counterparts, switch and crossing grinders are designed to recontour rail surfaces within the complex trackwork found in railway switches and crossing tracks. Onboard computers and as many as 20 controllable grinding heads, or "stones," aid in reshaping the rail to precise specifications.
Rail grinding is regarded as one of the most effective maintenance practices for extending rail life and reducing the potential for rail failures. By regularly re-profiling rail surfaces for proper wheel/rail contact, railroads are able to alleviate surface stresses, reduce noise, 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 US and international railroads and metropolitan transit systems. The division serves as 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 is a $2 billion industrial services and products company employing approximately 18,000 people in more than 40 countries of operation. Harsco's market-leading businesses provide mill services, access services, gas and fluid control products, and other infrastructure products and services to customers worldwide. Additional information about Harsco, including its Harsco Track Technologies division, can be found at www.harsco.com.