POLAND: ArcelorMittal Poland is developing its R400HT rail in Dąbrowa Górnicza for heavy-haul lines facing extreme wear and temperatures down to minus 40°C, while negotiating an initial Canadian batch.

Steel sections inside the ArcelorMittal Poland mill in Dąbrowa Górnicza
Steel products inside the ArcelorMittal Poland plant in Dąbrowa Górnicza. Illustrative image; it does not show the current R400HT development work. Photo: Dariusz Chmiel, CC BY-SA 3.0

The new grade is being added to the company’s rail product portfolio for routes where conventional rails do not provide sufficient service life. Its intended applications include heavily loaded freight corridors and mining railways.

R400HT is described as the most advanced rail grade covered by European standards for hardness and wear resistance. Heat treatment is designed to produce high hardness both at the running surface and deeper inside the rail head, the section that contacts train wheels.

Technical studies cited by the company indicate that R400HT offers more than six times the abrasion resistance of the standard R260 grade. Tomasz Wojciechowski, head of long products development at ArcelorMittal Poland, said the hardness achieved across the rail head is intended to support intensive operating conditions.

Qualification tests and a potential Canadian shipment

Development began in 2025, and ArcelorMittal intends to complete qualification tests by the end of 2026. At the same time, the manufacturer is negotiating the first batch for Canada, but no completed order has been announced.

One potential customer is ArcelorMittal’s mining division in Quebec, where heavy trains carry iron ore and winter temperatures can reach minus 40°C. Scandinavia is another target market because railways there may also combine high axle loads with severe cold.

The qualification programme therefore remains the next confirmed stage. A Canadian delivery depends on both successful testing and the outcome of the negotiations.

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Poland’s mill can produce 120-metre heat-treated rails

The heavy-section rolling mill in Dąbrowa Górnicza can manufacture rails 120 metres long. Longer rails reduce the number of welds and joints required during track installation.

An official Dąbrowa Górnicza production-site profile identifies the heavy mill as one of three facilities worldwide able to make 120-metre rails. ArcelorMittal Poland further says it is the only European producer, and one of three globally, capable of supplying heat-treated rails at that length.

R400HT follows the R350HT grade already introduced at the plant. In a 2024 account of its head-hardened rail programme, the company said rail-related research and development exceeded PLN 200 million. The heat-treated rail project that began in 2018 represented more than PLN 105 million, including over PLN 42.5 million in European Regional Development Fund co-financing.

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