I am looking to get information on what work the MTC did with TFL. The specific work I wish to look at is the use of a cladding robotic arm which can add material onto the top of the track and then excess material can be removed to create the form of the track. I assume this was a research project that was hoping to reclaim or re-manufacture rail tracks so they didn't have to be thrown away and instead repaired. I would really appreciate any articles or papers that were written. Also the level to which this has been introduced into the rail sytstem.

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Thank you for your email received by us on 12 October 2017 asking for information about Transport for London’s (TfL) project work with the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC).

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold the information you require. You asked for the following:

I am looking to get information on what work the MTC did with TFL.

I can advise that the project was undertaken to assess the practice and economic impact of introducing an alternative method of repair to current Manual Metal Arc (MMA) and Flux-Cored Arc Welding (FCAW) methods, which were divided into the following phases:

1. Review current rail repair procedures and potential new methods and materials.

2. Assess a typical squat defect and generate a report characterising the defect prior to repair.

3. Undertake preliminary cladding trials using equivalent rail material.

4. Devise and conduct a test to demonstrate equivalence with existing rail repair methods; a summary of this and the above phases is attached in the ‘Key projects tasks’ document.

5. Undertake a repair of a squat defect and analyse the results.

6. Assess the economic/practical impact of introducing the new repair procedure.

The specific work I wish to look at is the use of a cladding robotic arm

The work completed by the MTC used an off the shelf delivery system, known as the ‘Fronius Flextrack 45 welding carriage’ which is explained at: www.fronius.com/en-gb/uk/welding-technology/products/automation/systems/orbital-systems/flextrack-45-welding-carriage/flextrack-45-welding-carriage. This can add material onto the top of the track, whereby excess material can be removed to create the form of the track. The project assumed the existing grinding process would be applied post welding and so did not cover this element.

I assume this was a research project that was hoping to reclaim or re-manufacture rail tracks

Whilst our old rails are sold for recycling either into a range of steel products, or re-melted as scrap steel, the work completed with the MTC is specific to researching improvements to existing limited weld repairs such as squat defect repairs. These are currently completed on the London Underground network using MMA and FCAW technique so they’re not thrown away and can be repaired instead.

I would really appreciate any articles or papers that were written

We have not published anything publicly in this regard.

However, rail resurfacing technology is used fairly widely in the European tramway sector. In this environment vehicle speeds and loadings are lower, geometrical specifications more relaxed, and rail metallurgy is more accommodating to weld repair techniques. Background to this technique is published on a supplier web site that although has no affiliation to TfL, may be of interest at: http://www.kmt.cz/en/technologie-navarovani-vyhybkovych-soucasti/ .

Also the level to which this has been introduced into the rail system.

Unfortunately the work was not continued as the identified equipment was not suitable for either the available power requirements within London Underground’s tunnel environment or the manual handling restrictions to transport the additional equipment down into the tunnel environment or work site such as a power generator.

As explained on our website via the link below, ’Innovate UK are sponsors of a partnership involving London Underground, Lucchini Unipart Rail, Manufacturing Technology Centre and TWI. This provides the funding to develop and test technology for wheel cladding’: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/commercial-bulletin-for-randu-suppliers.pdf

I hope this information is useful.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

Yours sincerely

Jasmine Howard
FOI Case Officer
Information Governance
Transport For London

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