Deutsche Bahn launches pilot project to use green steel in rail infrastructure
Deutsche Bahn (DB) has taken a new step to expand the use of low-emission construction materials in its infrastructure. The company has signed a supply contract with Saarstahl Rail for around 1.000 tonnes of climate-friendly produced steel rails.
Under the project led by DB InfraGO, the green steel rails will be installed in North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland, covering a total length of approximately 22 kilometres.
The cooperation marks an important step toward sustainable supply chains and circular economy practices in the rail industry. The green steel supplied by Saarstahl Rail is produced at the Saarstahl Ascoval plant in France, which uses electric arc furnace (EAF) technology instead of traditional blast furnaces. This process enables the production of new steel from scrap and old rails, cutting greenhouse gas emissions by up to 70% compared to conventional methods. The use of 1.000 tonnes of green steel is expected to save around 1.800 tonnes of CO₂.
As part of its plan to achieve full carbon neutrality by 2040, Deutsche Bahn is increasingly integrating low-emission materials into its infrastructure projects. The company notes that about 50% of its Scope 3 emissions, indirect emissions from upstream and downstream activities, stem from construction operations, underscoring the need for more green steel and green concrete solutions.
DB’s environmental transformation strategy focuses on five key areas: climate resilience, climate protection, resource efficiency, environmental protection, and noise reduction. Through such pilot projects, the company aims to further reduce the carbon footprint of rail construction and strengthen the sustainability of its supply chain.
Interpipe tests rail deliveries via Poland
Ukraine’s Interpipe is testing a new logistics route for delivering products to EU countries using rail and road transport, in particular through a terminal in Poland, the company confirms to Kallanish.
“Interpipe is currently carrying out test shipments of pipes by rail cars to a terminal with a wide-gauge rail track in the polish city of Chelm,” the company’s procurement and logistics director, Oleksiy Yanovsky, tells Ukraine’s Centre for Transport Strategies (CFTS). “The products are then reloaded into trucks and delivered to their final destination in Europe.”
Interpipe has also very carefully studied the possibility of using the Danube for deliveries to EU countries. “However, unfortunately, the current level of service does not allow it to compete with direct road transport either from an economic point of view or from the point of view of transit time,” he adds.
“This method is relatively economically justified, given the current level of rates for cars, but has a number of disadvantages, in particular, the issue of combating rust on the surface of pipes arises,” Yanovsky claims. “However, it is unlikely this method of delivery will be acceptable for railway products due to the extreme sensitivity of these products in storage and transportation conditions. For railway wheels and wheel pairs, direct road transport will probably remain the most appropriate method of delivery to customers in Europe.”
Earlier, Interpipe said it was trying to reach pre-war production levels through the development of its Interpipe Niko Tube product range (see Kallanish passim). Pre-war output was some 70,000 tonnes/month compared to 50,000 t/m today.
Interpipe produced almost 43,500t of rail wheels in January-June, a significant on-year increase (see Kallanish passim).
In 2023, it supplied 387,000t of pipe and 95,000t of railway products.
Svetoslav Abrossimov Bulgaria
British Steel bags Turkey rail contract
British Steel has won a multi-million-pound contract to supply rail to Turkey. It will deliver tens of thousands of tonnes of track for a new high-speed electric railway connecting Mersin with the cities of Adana, Osmaniye and Gaziantep.
It will help create a lower-emission transport link between Turkey’s second-largest container port and inland cities more than 150 miles away, with the project expected to reduce CO2 emissions by more than 150,000 tonnes/year, the steelmaker says.
UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK government’s export credit agency, has underwritten €781 million ($847m) of financing to support construction of the 286km railway.
“This is the start of what we expect to be a new unique partnership between British Steel, UKEF and international contractors,” British Steel commercial director – rail Craig Harvey says in a note sent to Kallanish. “The ability to combine world-leading quality rail with a world-leading finance solution for supply into global markets and networks is an unparalleled supply chain solution. Looking forward, we are very excited about what this will achieve.”
The first shipments of rail will be transported from British Steel to Turkey in the second quarter. It is manufactured in Scunthorpe and is 60E1 in grade R260, each at 36 metres in length.
Adam Smith Poland
