INTERNATIONAL: British Steel has won orders to export rail from its Scunthorpe steelworks to Turkey and steel sleepers to Australia.
Turkish track
The Turkish contract announced on November 21 is worth £35m and covers the supply of steel rails for high speed lines.
It follows from a similar agreement the company announced in 2024 for the project for the project to modernise and electrify the 286 km Mersin – Adana – Gaziantep line for 200 km/h operation.
British Steel’s Chief Commercial Officer Lisa Coulson said ‘we are proud to have already delivered £30m of our rail products into high-speed projects to help decarbonise travel in Turkey and are delighted to be building upon this with a new supply agreement. Securing these prestigious contracts — with the support of UK Export Finance — was a major achievement and underlines British Steel’s ability to build the sustainable track systems of the future.’
Australian sleepers
Meanwhile, Cold Forge, British Steel’s Australian distributor for rail and steel sleeper products, has secured a contract to supply Type 436 steel sleepers to replace timber sleepers on Arc Infrastructure’s Midland Railway between Mingenew and Carnamah in Western Australia.
Work is expected to commence in mid-2026 to upgrade approximately 96 km of 1 067 mm gauge track to raise the axleload from 16 to 19 tonnes as part of the Agricultural Supply Chain Improvements programme. The sleepers have been rolled at the Scunthorpe Rail & Section Mill and will be processed by Trackwork in Wallasey.
British Steel said steel sleepers were chosen because they provide lower installation and maintenance costs as well as being more efficient to transport than their concrete counterparts. The cost savings from reduced ballast requirements, improved handling efficiency and an end-of-life scrap value would provide a saving of over 40% compared to comparative concrete products, the supplier said.
‘Our sleepers are the most advanced in the world’, said Caroleann Thompson, Commercial Manager — Rail at British Steel. ‘Our investment in research and development means we can supply a product that meets and exceeds modern operational demands and tracklaying methods.’
