The railway track is laid in the open air, and the surface is easy to rust (or scale) due to rain, sun and other factors. When the rust layer on the rail surface and inside of the rail is serious, it is easy to cause poor shunting of the rail circuit, affect the transmission of railway signals, and endanger the traffic safety. At present, two methods, i.e. manual grinding and rust removal and large-scale rail rust removal and grinding machine, are mainly used to remove the rust layer and dirt of the rail in operation.

Manual grinding and rust removal is the main way of rail maintenance at present, but its labor intensity is high, the operation is difficult, the work efficiency is low, the rail is easy to be damaged, and the cleaning quality is difficult to guarantee.

The large-scale rail derusting and grinding machine has large power and large volume. It needs its own generator. It needs to be driven by the traction locomotive to run on the railway. It needs to submit a transportation plan before operation. The occupation of the line during on-site operation affects the traffic transportation, and the cost is too high, which has a great impact on the environment around the rail.

Laser cleaning is a new cleaning method developed in recent years. Laser cleaning equipment is suitable for operators to work alone, with low cleaning cost, environmental protection, high efficiency, good cleaning quality, no damage to the rail substrate, no need to apply for a railway transportation plan, easy operation with one hand dragging or automatic operation through remote control. These advantages cannot be replaced by the existing cleaning methods. Laser cleaning will gradually replace the traditional cleaning methods, and its development prospect will certainly replace the traditional cleaning process.