The Adelaide to Tarcoola Rail Upgrade Project (ATRU) is a major rail renewal project in South Australia. It involves the upgrade of approximately 600 kilometres of track on the Interstate network between Adelaide (Islington and Outer Harbor) and Tarcoola which supports intermodal freight traffic to and from Western Australia as well as a lot of heavy minerals rail freight.
The upgrade, being carried out by the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), will improve capacity by increasing rail size along the interstate line, moving rail size from 47kg per metre to 60kg per metre and, along with some other works, will allow for higher axle loads (25 tonnes at 80km/h).
As part of the work, over 1,000km of new rail is being installed. Laying 1,000km of rail uses a lot of rail clips, in this case Pandrol e-clips. Installing them takes time, so, about five months into the 14-month project, a Rosenqvist CD400SP Clip Driver was brought in to reduce the amount of intensive manual labour required to maintain high productivity.
Introduction of the new equipment required a collaborative approach to be taken to operator training and field maintenance upskilling. The project has a good safety record across all areas and the use of the CD400SP has reduced manual handling and the hazards associated with manual installation techniques.
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