Making tracks to sustainability
Pandrol is at the cutting edge of rail infrastructure. It designs and provides solutions and services ranging from rail fastenings and track welding, to signaling and track vibration mitigation.
As part of the Delachaux Group, the company’s engineering history dates back to 1902. Today, Pandrol helps to ensure that rail operators’ networks worldwide are contributing to a sustainable future. In Italy, for example, the local authority of Florence called on Pandrol to extend the city’s tram network, improving access to the historic city center while reducing emissions.
“Everything we do in a city like Florence has to be done right,” says Carlo Francini, UNESCO World Heritage Site Manager at Comune di Firenze, Florence’s municipal council. “That includes transport, which must be green if we want to create a sustainable city of the future that respects and celebrates its heritage.”
Track resilience
Pandrol is a leader in Sustainable Resilient Systems – which includes the recycled rubber products that the company embeds into railway tracks to mitigate noise and vibration.
The system meets customer requirements and is backed by 30 years of proven performance. Compared to competing systems made from virgin polyurethane plastic derived from oil, it offers far superior sustainability. It improves track longevity, reduces maintenance costs and – importantly for historic cities like Florence – preserves the integrity of surrounding buildings.
“The solution has to start from the ground up, with vibration attenuation built into the structure of the track and the track bed, understanding how all track elements interact together and potentially affect the surrounding area,” says Yoann Bersia, Application Engineer at Pandrol.
Running on rubber
Pandrol implemented its QTrack embedded track technology for the Florence tram project. Quick and simple to install, QTrack is completely encapsulated by elastic, prefabricated, resin-bonded rubber to reduce vibration and noise.
In areas such as the city center, where extra vibration mitigation was needed to preserve the historic buildings, Pandrol installed Floating Slab Mats under the track beds. These durable, maintenance-free mats – made from 100% recyclable material – dramatically reduce vibration in the frequency ranges that pose the most danger to nearby buildings.
“With innovations like QTrack and Floating Slab Mats, we are extending the lifespan of tram tracks, significantly lowering maintenance costs,” says Frédérique Coeuille, Chief Technology Officer at Pandrol.
“These solutions don’t just benefit the infrastructure, they also improve the quality of life for the communities living near the railway.”
