TATA Steel has today unveiled its upgraded rail production facility in Hayange in northwest France following the completion of a Euros 35 million investment programme.

The plant, which is situated in the Lorraine region can now produce 108m-long rails and capacity has increased from 300,000 to 400,000 tonnes of rail per year. Tata says the project will also allow the site to improve the quality of the rails it produces.

The completion of the Hayange upgrade comes two just weeks after the plant secured a contract to supply 84,000 tonnes of rail for the 302km TGV Sud-Europ Atlantique high-speed line. The steel will be produced at Tata Steel's mill in Scunthorpe, Britain, prior to being rolled at Hayange. Delivery will start in 2014.