Media centre

Wednesday 18 Oct 2006

BIGGEST EVER CAMPAIGN UNVEILED FOR AUTUMN LEAF-FALL BATTLE (NORTH WEST)

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New techniques, new and better equipment and more people working around the clock than ever before will help keep rail passengers on the move this autumn. Peter Strachan, Network Rail Route Director, said: “Autumn and falling leaves are a challenge for railways the world over. The leaves form mulch on the rails, which is as slippery as ice on the roads. And the same precautions that you take in your car have to be taken - braking and accelerating slowly - which can lead to delays. “We do everything possible to prepare for Autumn and everything possible to deal with the effects when it arrives. We invest in the best techniques and equipment and use the ‘leaf-busting’ teams around the clock to keep the railways running. And we target these huge resources at the leaf-fall hotspots, which we can predict by using the latest technology." Network Rail unveiled its arsenal for the battle with falling leaves, including: ·         A 24-hour control centre in Manchester manned by a team dedicated to tackling autumn. ·         Water-jetting trains shooting out water at an equivalent pressure of 1,000/bar (up to 1000 faster than the water coming out of your tap) will be getting rid of ‘leaf mulch’ across the North West. ·         A ‘super soaker’ train in action on the West Coast Mainline between Willesden and Rugby. The track will be blasted at 1,500/bar pressure whilst travelling at 60 mph. This follows extensive testing throughout the summer. ·         The latest satellite navigation technology to reach hot-spots as soon as possible. ‘Leaf busting’ crews based throughout the North West will be using rail head scrubbers, sand sticks and Natrusolve, which dissolves the leaf mulch. Mr Strachan concluded: “We work closely with train operators to mitigate autumn’s effects as far as possible and keep passengers moving.” Train operator Northern Rail is one of the industry leaders in dealing with leaf fall issues, giving its drivers specialist training to cope with the rail conditions, using driving simulators, installing anti-leaf sprayers on many of its trains, and briefing staff on particular problem areas. Jamie Ross, Area Director, Northern Rail said: “We work closely with Network Rail and our other industry partners to tackle the effects of leaf fall during autumn.  Our drivers also undertake specialist skidpan training to prepare them to operate trains safely in the slippery conditions.  In some cases we operate a slightly amended timetable to ensure we continue to provide a robust and reliable service for our customers.” Until 9 December, some Northern services on the Oldham Loop and Hadfield lines will be timetabled to take slightly longer – either leaving very slightly earlier or arriving very slightly later. Across the country, autumn costs the rail industry approximately £60 million a year, including: £10 million for vegetation management over 21,000 miles of track, £34 million for autumn train-borne operations, £5 million for ‘hot spot’ teams and other staff/operational costs as well as £10 million for damage to trains and track because of leaf fall.  Weather and seasonal factors account for 10% of all delay minutes across the network in any one year