Railway infrastructure equipment solutions manufacturer Pandrol has completed a major project to supply an innovative rail fastening solution for Hankyu Railways at Awaji Station, Osaka, Japan.<\/p>\n
The Hankyu Kyoto Line \/ Senri Line project, which is one of the largest urban rail elevation schemes in Japan, involved Pandrol manufacturing and supplying around 68,000 FastClip (FC1101) clips and insulators for the 7.1km elevated section of the Kyoto Line and Senri Line, whilst meeting every milestone in a rigorous supply schedule.<\/p>\n
The scheme involves removing 17 level crossings, several of which had barrier down-times exceeding 40 minutes per hour at peak times. This will eliminate the long-standing at-grade conflict between the Kyoto and Senri Lines at Awaji Station, where crossing movements have historically caused delays and safety risks on both routes. Once complete, the double-decked viaduct will run from Sozenji to Kami-Shinjo on the Kyoto Line and from Kunijima to Shimo-Shinjo on the Senri Line, reconnecting communities divided by the railway and supporting wider urban regeneration in the area.<\/p>\n
Pandrol’s FastClip FC1101, a rubber-booted sleeper system, was specified for its ability to deliver consistent toe load without manual adjustment, reducing long-term maintenance demands on an elevated structure. The system’s defining feature is its unique switch-on\/switch-off function, which enables fast, efficient track installation and straightforward maintenance. Sleepers arrive on site with all components held captive and clips set in the parked position, ready to be ‘switched on’ by driving the clip onto the rail foot using a track machine or standard hand tool. As the clips and insulators can be pre-assembled to the sleepers prior to delivery, it significantly reduces the volume of on-site installation work and associated labour requirements.<\/p>\n
In addition, Pandrol\u2019s under-sleeper pads help to minimise vibration transmission to neighbouring residents and can be swapped for pads of different stiffness should environmental requirements change in the future.<\/p>\n
Norihiro Minami, section manager at Hankyu Railways, said: \u201cPandrol\u2019s FastClip rail fastening system provides the performance required for elevated track applications while also allowing for future adjustments. We are very satisfied with the results.\u201d<\/p>\n
The elevated section is scheduled to open in 2028, when it will carry more than 900 trains a day – part of a network that already moves around 1.7 million passengers daily across Hankyu’s 90 stations. The system has already proved itself for more than 20 years on the Tohoku Shinkansen (Japanese high speed rail line), allowing for a rapid and repeatable installation and maintenance process by contractors.
This is just the latest project in a 20-year relationship between Pandrol and the Japanese rail market, during which the company has supplied a substantial volume of FastClip assemblies nationwide.<\/p>\n
Image credit: Pandrol<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Railway infrastructure equipment solutions manufacturer Pandrol has completed a major project to supply an innovative rail fastening solution for Hankyu Railways at Awaji Station, Osaka, Japan. The Hankyu Kyoto Line \/ Senri Line project, which is one of the largest urban rail elevation schemes in Japan, involved Pandrol manufacturing and supplying around 68,000 FastClip (FC1101) [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8202,16017,343,332,16015,47,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-592391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-company-news","category-industry-news","category-infrastructure","category-international","category-permanent-way","category-rail-news","category-uk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t