The rake has been developed in-house through a joint effort of Indian Railways, Wagon Division of BESCO Limited and Hindalco.
Aluminum racks have many advantages over conventional racks.
Union Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology Shri Ashwini Vaishnav today inaugurated India’s first Aluminum Freight Rack 61 BOBRNALHSM1 at Bhubaneswar Railway Station. This rake will go to Bilaspur.
The rake has been designed and developed entirely in India in collaboration with RDSO, Hindalco and Besco Wagon, as part of a special effort under the Make in India programme.
Features of Aluminum Rack:
Fully lockbolted construction with superstructure without any welding.
3.25 tonnes less weight than a normal steel rack, resulting in a carrying capacity of 180 tonnes more per wagon.
Higher payload to tar ratio 2.85
Due to the lighter weight the rack will burn less fuel when running empty, which will reduce the carbon footprint when the rack can run with a higher load. A single rack can save over 14,500 tonnes of CO2 over its lifetime.
The resale value of the rack is 80%.
It has 35% more clearance as its superstructure is all aluminium.
Low wear and tear maintenance cost due to no corrosion and wear.
The iron industry uses nickel and cadmium, which have to be imported. Hence imports will also decrease due to this type of aluminum wagon. This will also bode well for the domestic aluminum industry.
