Fast Rail Welding Operator Flown In From China, Has Special Certificate For Flash-butt Welding Method

Photo via Antara

JAKARTA - PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC) ensures that the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail project will use a welding machine with the latest technology, namely UN-200 for the rail connection process.

President Director of KCIC Dwiyana Slamet Riyadi said this machine is used for rail welding by adopting the Flash-butt Welding method which is known as one of the best methods for welding in the railway industry.

"This fast train will later go up to 350 km/hour. So the track must be the best. For that, in the process of joining and welding, we use the Flash-butt welding method with the UN-200 engine," said Slamet in a statement in Jakarta, Tuesday, February 15, quoted from Antara.

He said the expert certified specifically for rail welding with the UN-200 machine initially used operators from China.

However, according to him, in line with the technology transfer process that is going well, currently local workers are able to operate the UN-200 machine.

Welding facilities and workshops for the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail with UN-200 are located in the 8.4-hectare Welding Factory Workshop Area in the Tegalluar area, East Bandung.

With this sophisticated machine, 1.805 rail rods will be connected to a size of 500 meters. The goal is that the fast train track that runs from Halim to Tegalluar does not have many connections.

The lack of rail connections is very important to improve the comfort and safety of the fast train. Until now, UN-200 has succeeded in producing as many as 872 rail rods along 500 meters or the equivalent of 218 kilometers.

In addition, the high-speed rail project is producing and installing concrete slab tracks and also connecting the rails that will be used. The rail used for this project is a standard R60 rail with a length of 50 meters.

Dwiyana added that KCIC conducts welding at the Welding factory to maintain the quality of the welding and so that the rail connection process is more controlled.

The way Flash-butt welding works is by heating the two rail rods to be joined with the UN-200 machine. After reaching the required temperature, the two ends of the rail items are connected with a certain pressure until they are completely fused together.

The UN-200 machine is able to provide consistent connection quality on each rail because this machine has the ability to record changes in joint pressure and temperature during heating and cooling, and identify joints automatically.

"The Flash-butt Welding machine can automatically record and remember the process of pressure changes to changes in joint temperature during heating and cooling so that the rail connection results are in accordance with project needs," said Dwiyana.