Officially launched on March 29th by the European Commission, the European Year of Rail will aim to highlight the benefits of rail as a sustainable, smart and safe means of transport. “Environmentally-friendly and energy-efficient, rail will play a crucial role in helping the EU become climate neutral by 2050. The COVID-19 crisis has also shown how rail transport can facilitate the supply of essential goods such as medical devices, food and fuel in exceptional circumstances” declared Oleg Butković, Croatian Minister for the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, President of the Council of the EU.
A truly sustainable mean of transport
Rail emits far less CO2 than equivalent travel by road or air. It accounts for only 0.4 % of EU greenhouse gas emissions, while all EU transport accounts for 25% of the EU’s total emissions. Plus, it is the only transport means that has consistently reduced its emissions and energy consumption between 1990-2017, while increasingly using renewable energy sources.
Moreover, rails are infinitely recyclable. At the end of its service life and when it is removed from the track, a rail can be recycled as raw material to manufacture new rails or other steel products, which means a significant amount of natural resources and energy savings. This ability to infinitely recycling is one of the environmental strengths of steel.
ArcelorMittal committed to be climate-neutral by 2050
ArcelorMittal as world’s leading steel and mining company supports the European Commission’s Green Deal and believes the right market mechanisms are a critical part of enabling the deployment of low-emissions steelmaking. ArcelorMittal was one of the first companies to support a proposed carbon border adjustment and backs the European Commission’s proposals for a €35 billion ‘just transition’ fund, to invest in research, innovation and green technology.
ArcelorMittal Europe has committed to reduce CO2 emissions by 30% by 2030, with a further ambition to be carbon neutral by 2050, in line with the EU’s Green Deal and the Paris Agreement. As Europe’s largest steelmaker, we have a significant role to play.
ArcelorMittal has recently launched XCarb™, as part of the company’s journey to deliver on its 2050 net zero commitment. XCarb™ will ultimately bring together all of ArcelorMittal’s reduced, low and zero-carbon products and steelmaking activities, as well as wider initiatives and green innovation projects, into a single effort focused on achieving demonstrable progress towards carbon neutral steel.
ArcelorMittal Rails & Special Sections bringing innovation to the railway sector
ArcelorMittal Europe Long – Products Rails & Special Sections operates rail production facilities in Spain, Poland and Luxembourg offering a wide portfolio of products covering rails for trains, subways, trams, light rails, crane rails, crossings, and rail accessories; building an incomparable knowledge and expertise of these product range.
ArcelorMittal’s current main trending topics for railway are:
- Digitalisation: ArcelorMittal Rails & Special Sections is extending its 4.0 transformation with the launch of several digital tools such as the new Rail Tool app, Life Cycle Cost models and predictive maintenance.
- Increasing rails length in order to provide further track safety, welding, track laying and maintenance cost savings.
- Increasing rail service life with the most appropriate solutions related to different applications; LCV grades for tramway, new hardness grades for heavy haul and other uses.
- RailCor®: a completely new range of corrosion-resistant rails which offer protection in severe environments. whether the rails are installed inside tunnels, city centres, or coastal areas. It also offers increased rail service life and increased cost savings reducing Life Cycle Cost.
- Customer experience: development of new passenger and citizen oriented solutions to increase comfort and reduce noise.
- R&D: to satisfy customers’ increasing requirements, ArcelorMittal has its own dedicated R&D Rail Excellence Centre that allow us to provide our customers with prompt, innovative and cost-effective solutions. The research lines are structured around three main axes: optimisation of the manufacturing process, new product development and implementation of new rail track solutions. The welding pilot plant, the advanced testing systems of in-use properties, or the ongoing developments of track monitoring are some examples of the solutions that ArcelorMittal, through the R&D Rail Excellence Centre, will bring to the railway sector. This will be possible thanks to an open innovation in collaboration with a network of universities, technology centres and companies from railway sector.
