Railway
The use of hydraulics in the maintenance of the railway tracks & alignment of Railway tracks is all done with 10,000 PSI (700 Bar) hydraulics. Keeping the correct distance between the tracks is one of the most important applications carried out by hydraulics, as this is critical for the safe running of the train & carriages on the tracks.Removal of the tracks during maintenance & replacement is done by Hydraulic Pull Cylinders that hang from a gantry & pull the tracks off the sleepers. Switch Gear is always set to the correct position with Hydraulics, & is nowadays activated by Hydraulics. Loaders and cranes to move equipment, and train cars, on and off tracks, as well as on loading and offloading goods for transport.
There are several pieces of equipment however, that are used to build and repair track today, that use hydraulic cylinders to do the bulk of the work; tie cranes, ballast regulators, tie inserter/removers, and ballast tampers.
Without this equipment, rail repair would be a labour-intensive process. Hydraulic cylinders have made it not only easier, but safer to do this work on today’s railways