Speno wins New Zealand rail contract

The $30 million, 51 metre long, RR24M-30A Rail Grinder, owned and operated by Speno, is scheduled to arrive in New Zealand this month and will commence operations in September.

“The grinding work will primarily be undertaken along the major rail routes beginning with the East Coast Main Trunk and North Island Main Trunk and will result in a greatly improved track surface,” said Acting Chief Executive David Walsh.

“Over time the track railhead develops stress points, defects and metal build up from the steel wheels travelling on steel track.”

“Rail grinding has a range of benefits like improving the reliability and speed at which trains can travel, extending the life of the track and reducing the risk of derailment by smoothing and removing defect metal from the railhead.”

Mr Walsh said there are no similar machines available in New Zealand and the 1067mm (3’6”) gauge of the local tracks also makes it harder to source the right machine.

“We are pretty happy to have found the most suitable piece of equipment, given the only other option would have been to build a machine from scratch and also considering that once grinding is complete, it will not need to be done again for a number of years,” he said.