Rail officials visit France for track and track material related inspection

The delegation was headed by Engineer Ali Abdul Qader, Director of Rail Maintenance accompanied by a representative of the Dubai Metro Project's consultant.

The team visited Frog fitting facility in Vossloh Cogifer to examine the integrity of design and quality suitable for Dubai Metro for UAE's environment.

Engineer öAli Abdul Qader said, "The delegation asked for all approved specifications and latest revised drawings of all items to be inspected. The team observed that due to the Emirate's environment there is a possibility of the collection of sand and other debris in the gaps between the Switch Point Rail and the Stock Rail that could be a major contributor to wheel derailment. As preventive measures for maintenance a monitoring system known as the Turnout Monitoring System (TMS) will be installed. TMS will notify the maintenance crew of any accumulations and will sound an alarm for unclosed Switch Point."

The trip to Reichshoffen, involved examining the fabrication of Switch Points and the assembly of Turnouts. The Rail Agency team was not too satisfied with the production quality and asked for improvements.

In Bouloge they witnessed sample testing and the actual pouring of the frog casting in the mold. The rough casting is then shipped to Vossloh Cogifer for machining, welding, pressing and other operations.