The railway network's deputy head is reported to have told his subordinates at an internal meeting that the situation is critical.
  • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.eeEnglish
    5·
    3 months ago

    Bearings for rolling stock are actually relatively hard to come by, and there are only a few countries that even produce the two different steel alloys they are made from.

    Ten companies in the world manufacture 75% of the bearings used in rail. With like 5 of them being located in Japan, and the rest in the US, Germany, and I believe Sweden. China only produces about 20% of bearings used in rail, but they are pretty much all for domestic use, as they are still expanding their network.

    • Justin@lemmy.jlh.nameEnglish
      2·
      3 months ago

      Couldn’t they just use journal bearings? I think the majority of American rolling stock still uses journal bearings.

      • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.eeEnglish
        5·
        3 months ago

        That’s mainly because America mostly moves freight via trucks, and thus has very outdated rolling stock. It’s not unusual to see freight chassis that are 50 plus years old.

        Russia on the other hand moves the majority of their freight via rail, and like most countries utilize tapered roller bearings for their trains. This allows them to carry a lot more weight, and the bearings last nearly 3x as long.

        I’m not quite sure what would be harder, to import new bearings, build a production line from the ground up for bearings, or retrofit all their rolling stock with outdated technology.

        Each choice is going to be expensive and extremely time consuming.