A news dispatch reports that on October 12, China's independently developed plateau antifreeze steel rails passed rigorous acceptance tests at the Golmud Comprehensive Testing Base in Qinghai. All performance indicators have reached an internationally leading level, and they are about to be used in batches in the construction of the extension section of the Xinjiang-Tibet Railway. This acceptance test lasted 15 days and simulated extreme environments in plateau and alpine regions, such as extreme cold of -40℃, force 8 gales, and strong ultraviolet radiation.

This new type of rail was developed by the China Academy of Railway Sciences in collaboration with steel enterprises. It adopts a nickel-chromium-molybdenum alloy composite material, incorporates rare earth anti-freezing factors and micro-alloy strengthening elements, and is processed through special heat treatment technology. In a low-temperature environment of -40℃, its impact toughness remains above 120J, and its fracture toughness is 40% higher than that of traditional rails, effectively solving the industry problems of frost cracking and brittle fracture of plateau rails. The nano-ceramic anti-corrosion coating sprayed on the surface of the rail can resist the erosion of strong ultraviolet rays on the plateau and the salt corrosion in permafrost areas, extending its service life from 15 years of traditional rails to 25 years. Experts involved in the acceptance stated that the successful development of anti-freezing rails has filled the technical gap in special rails for extreme cold regions in China and provided key technical support for the construction of major projects such as the Xinjiang-Tibet Railway and the Sichuan-Tibet Railway.