Auropean research project called RAILSAFE

SLV Hannover is the competence agency for the welding of permanent ways (rails, points etc.) in GSI. For the practical training of rail welders, TWI (The Welding Institute, GB) initiated a Leonardo research project called RAILSAFE in which nine European partners from seven countries got together in order to elaborate training guidelines. SLV Hannover was able to secure a 12 % proportion of the total volume (approx. EUR 800,000). The project ran for a period of 36 months. The promotion rate was 75 %.

The project was divided into the following phases:
1. Determination of the needs of industry in the EWF countries; 2. Evaluation (in each case, for all phases); 3. Elaboration of the training guidelines; 4. Elaboration of the guideline for welding procedure specifications; 5. Database for European welders' passports; 6. Pilot courses; 7. Publication; 8. Report

In the next step, the currently ongoing determination of the existing welding technology applications of rail welding in EWF will be followed by the field of aluminothermic welding.