rail joints

Rail joint, also called railway fish plate, rail joint bar or splice bar, is a metal bar bolted to the ends of two rails to connect them together in a rail track. Two pieces of rail joint bars are usually used together as a pair. Each rail joint bar has one side configured to the rail web side. Mechanical fasteners mount the joint bars to the web sides. The pairs of keys in the webs and the joint bars transfer railway loads through the joint and substantially strengthen the rail joint assembly.

Rail joint bar plays an important role in guaranteeing the train’s steadiness and safety while the train driving through the jointing sections of rails. The two pictures below are about rail joint bar’s usage:

As a professional manufacturer and supplier of rail fasteners, AGICO supplies both standard and non-standard (customized) rail joints for you, such as: common rail joints, insulated splice joint, bulged railway fish plate, compromised rail joint bar, and glued insulated fish plates, etc. The common types, international standards of railway fish plates are also supplied, such as: AREMA standard, African and South American standards (mainly used in Brazil and Peru), DIN, UIC, BS and GB standards, etc. AGICO has over 20 kinds of international standard moulds of railway fish plate available. With these ready-made moulds, the production time of railway fishplate largely reduces. Moreover, if you have some special demands for splice bar, you can send us your drawing design, and we will return you samples of your desired rail joint bar.

Types of Rail Joints

• AREMA Standard Rail Joint Bar (mainly used in USA)

  

  Standard	Material	Size	Tensile strength Rm	Yield strength	Elongation A	Reduction of Area Z	Brinell Hardness	Cold Bend d=3a
  AREMA 2007	steel 55#	115RE, 119RE, 132RE,133RE, 136RE, 141RE, etc.	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

• African Standard Rail Joint (mainly used in Africa)

  

  Standard	Material	Size	Tensile strength Rm	Yield strength	Elongation A	Reduction of Area Z	Brinell Hardness	Cold Bend d=3a
  Based on customer's demands	steel 55#	85 LB, 85 LB-80 LB	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

• South American Standard Rail Joint (mainly used in Brazil & Peru)

  

  Standard	Material	Size	Tensile strength Rm	Yield strength	Elongation A	Reduction of Area Z	Brinell Hardness	Cold Bend d=3a
  Based on customer's demands	steel 55# or customized	TJ57, TJ ASCE 90, TJ UIC60(Brazilian)75LBS A.S.C.E, 75LBS BSS, 80LBS A.S.C.E, TJ BS80A(Peruvian)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

• DIN Standard Rail Joint (mainly used in Germany)

  

  Standard	Material	Size	Tensile strength Rm	Yield strength	Elongation A	Reduction of Area Z	Brinell Hardness	Cold Bend d=3a
  DIN5902-1995	steel Q235 / steel Q295	S30 for FL30 rail, S33 for FL33 rail, S41 for FL41 rail, S49 for FL49 rail, FL10, FL14, FL18, FL20, FL41-54	≥375 Mpa	≥235 Mpa	≥21%	N/A	N/A	N/A

• UIC (International Union of Railways) Standard Rail Joints

  

  Standard	Material	Size	Tensile strength Rm	Yield strength	Elongation A	Reduction of Area Z	Brinell Hardness	Cold Bend d=3a
  UIC864-4 & UIC864-8	steel 40#	U79–UIC54, U85–UIC60	550-650Mpa	N/A	≥18%	N/A	N/A	N/A

• BS Standard Rail Joint (mainly used in UK)

  

  Standard	Material	Size	Tensile strength Rm	Yield strength	Elongation A	Reduction of Area Z	Brinell Hardness	Cold Bend d=3a
  BS47-1	steel 40#	BS75R,BS80A,BS90A,BS100A,BS113A	550-650Mpa	N/A	≥18%	N/A	N/A	N/A

• GB Standard Rail Joint (mainly used in China)

  

  Chemical Composition
  

  • C: 0.52~0.60
  • Mn: 0.50~0.80
  • Si: 0.17~0.37
  • S: ≤0.035
  • P: ≤0.035

  Standard	Material	Size(kg)	Tensile strength Rm	Yield strength	Elongation A	Reduction of Area Z	Brinell Hardness	Cold Bend d=3a
  TB/T2345-2008	steel 55#	43,52,60,75	≥785 Mpa	≥520 Mpa	≥9%	≥20%	HBW 227-388	30 degree, no crack

You can know the manufacturing process of rail joint bars here, together with more drawing designs. The following are some useful tips that you may want to know:

• The steel used for manufacturing rail joint bars comply with all the requirements of each standard in different countries.
• Each railway splice bar can be customized and branded with figures denoting the mass per meter of rails and to indicate the manufacturer and the date of manufacture. The letters and figures will be rolled or forged on the outside surface of rail joint. This is totally depends on customer’s requirements.
• The chemical composition is determined by cast analysis.
• The holes for installing fish bolts shall be either drilled or punched, and shall be to the centers and dimensions of the drawing designs offered by customers or made by us after negotiating with customers, subject to the tolerances.
• The finished rail joints shall have no defects detrimental to their end use. Deformation conforming to the tolerance limits is allowed.
• For the tensile testing, samples should be selected from any two railway fish plates or joint bars representative of each heat of steel.

Recommended Rail Joints Match RE Rail Joints Bars

AGICO supplies other qualified rail fasteners to match all the rail splice bars offered. The following table is the Recommended Rail Drillings, Bar Punchings and Track Bolts for 115 RE, 119 RE, 132 RE, 133 RE, 136 RE, 140 RE and 141 RE Rails and Joint Bars.

Description	Dimensions in Inches
	115 RE and 119 RE	133 RE	132 RE, 136 RE and 141 RE	140 RE
Rail Drillings
a	2-7/8	3	3-3/32	3
b	3-1/2	3-1/2	3-1/2	3-1/2
c	6	6	6	6
d	6	6	6	6
Bar Punchings
4-Hole Bar
e	7-1/8	7-1/8	7-1/8	7-1/8
f	6	6	6	6
g	2-7/16	2-7/16	2-7/16	2-7/16
6-Hole Bar
h	7-1/8	7-1/8	7-1/8	7-1/8
i	6	6	6	6
j	6	6	6	6
k	2-7/16	2-7/16	2-7/16	2-7/16
m	36	38	36	36
Track Bolt
D	1	1	1-1/8	1-1/8
L	6	6	6	6
I	2-1/4	2-1/4	2-1/4	2-1/4
Note 1: This drilling to be omitted for 4-hole bars.

Recommended Rail Drillings and Bar Punchings for 115 RE, 119 RE, and 133 RE, Utilizing 1 Inch Track Bolts

Recommended Rail Drillings and Bar Punchings for 132 RE, 136 RE, 140 RE Rails, and 141 RE Rails and Joint Bars, Utilizing 1-1/8 Inch Track Bolts