Award-winning CO₂-reduced rails

In 2024, Saarstahl Rail, a subsidiary of the Saarstahl Group, was honoured for its outstanding sustainability concept with the ‘Sustainability Championship Award’ of the ‘Berlin Institute Supply Chain Management GmbH’ in the category ‘Circularity’. Saarstahl Rail is the only rolling mill in Europe which offers CO₂-reduced rails made from steel produced in anelectric arc furnace. With an annual capacity of more than 400,000 tonnes, Saarstahl Rail supplies national and international railway companies. Green rails from the plant in Hayange are therefore playing an increasingly important role in the international mobility transition. In 2025, Saarstahl Rail and SNCF Réseau signed a long-term contract over a period of up to six years for the supply of CO₂-reduced rails. As part of a pilot project, Deutsche Bahn also concluded its first contract for green rails with Saarstahl Rail in the same year.

In total, Saarstahl Rail produces CO₂- reduced rails for urban transport as well as for mainline and underground railway services. Rails with lengths of up to 108 metres and profiles which are adapted to different track geometries and loads are manufactured at the Hayange site. They are used in tramway systems; heavy freight lines and other areas where high wear resistance and long maintenance intervals are essential Requirements. The steel used for the decarbonised rails comes from sister company Saarstahl Ascoval, where the steel is produced in an electric arc furnace (EAF) primarily from recycled scrap and old rails. This process replaces the conventional blast furnace process and reduces direct CO₂ emissions per tonne of steel by around 70 per cent. Most of the semi-finished steel products are transported by rail from Saarstahl Ascoval to Saarstahl Rail, which eliminates around 1,400 annual lorry journeys. This change in means of transport saves around 377,000 litres of fuel per year and reduces transport-related emissions from around 1,000 to around 184 tonnes of CO₂.