Does IR use mechanized means for track laying and maintenance?
IR has used some track-laying equipment, but much track is still laid manually. A lot of track maintenance is also done manually, with a veritable army of gangmen that are out ‘on the line’ to inspect track and fix problems. There is, however, a big push to mechanize track maintenance — the target being complete mechanization by 2012. Tie tamping machines are common: Unimat models (by Plasser) tamp one sleeper at a time and can pack sleepers on normal track and turnout; Duomat models tamp two sleepers at a time on normal track. CSM is another tie tamper used by IR; it has a cab that moves continuously while the tamping machine itself starts and stops over alteranate sleepers to tamp them two at a time — this reduces driver discomfort. CSM tampers are the most common ones used by IR today. [6/04] A ‘Tamping Express’ machine that tamps three sleepers at a time is being tried out. Self-propelled ballast cleaning machines have been tried in a few places but remain rare. Ultrasonic rail t
