On May 6, under the joint efforts of Railway Equipment Company and CRCC High-tech Equipment Corporation Limited, China’s first self-developed FCM-20K profiling turnout grinding vehicle, with full independent intellectual property rights, conducted its first main line grinding trial at the North Turnouts of Wanshuiquan South Station of the Baoshen Railway. After four hours of precise operation, it completed the maintenance grinding tasks on four sets of turnouts, including straight and curved tracks, intermediate straight lines, and turnouts with lengths extending at least 25 meters in main line sections. The vehicle eliminated typical defects, including rail lips, fish scale defects, and spalling, further validating the operational performance of the profiling turnout grinding vehicle, which is pivotal in promoting the iteration and upgrading of heavy-haul railway machinery and enhancing maintenance efficiency.

As the junction of railway lines, turnouts directly affect the stability and safety of train operation. Due to their complex structures and concentrated rail surface forces, long-term service easily leads to damage including rail corrugation and cracks. In addition, traditional grinding methods often face problems caused by blind spots, low efficiency, and poor precision, making thorough maintenance difficult. With 3D profiling grinding technology, the FCM-20K profiling grinding vehicle breaks through the bottleneck of existing turnout grinding technology and achieves full coverage of mechanical grinding of turnouts for the first time.

The successful mainline trial marks the validated maturity and reliability of the FCM-20K profiling grinding vehicle, laying a solid foundation for future applications and supporting the development of high-precision, intelligent maintenance for heavy-haul railways with advanced equipment and technology.