An interesting milestone for voestalpine Turnout Technology Netherlands: in collaboration with Kampa, they have installed the 1,000th DeltaSwitch. This innovative system is integrated into all of ProRail’s Standard turnouts with a high tongue profile on both concrete and on wooden sleepers.
Our focus on designing a robust lubrication-free system has led to an active improvement of the maximum size of the free wheel passage. It has resulted in a major decrease in collisions with the tip of the tongue, which has avoided extensive wear and tear and the forming of excessive forces in the system. The effect was calculated by means of manual measurements and using measurement trains. On average, two DeltaSwitches are installed per turnout. In case of an diamond crossing there are even eight, one under each tongue. In almost all cases, the DeltaSwitch demonstrably realised a safe turnout trafficability. The DeltaSwitch was released by the end of 2020. Since then, more than 1000 items have been installed in both existing and new turnouts. This extensive and successful use of the DeltaSwitch proves the overall confidence in its effectiveness.