Media centre

Friday 28 Jan 2005

DRAMATIC REDUCTION IN AUTUMN DELAYS

Region & Route:

Train delays caused by leaves on the line fell by a staggering 81% in the Greater Manchester area last autumn, according to figures released today. In autumn 2003 trains were held up for 52,500 minutes because of leaves but last year that figure dropped to just 9,941 minutes. Jo Green, Network Rail’s general manager for the Manchester area paid tribute to her leaf-fall teams; “We had three teams of six people, two working at night and one during the day. It was their task to deal with all the leaf-fall problem areas and they did an excellent job, as the figures demonstrate. We also had three mobile operations managers directing their work, and a dedicated ‘autumn controller’ co-ordinating everyone’s efforts throughout the north west. “We will never beat Mother Nature but last autumn we gave her a good run for her money.” The main weapon used in the battle against leaves is a substance called Sandite. It looks like gritty wallpaper paste and it helps trains to get a better grip on the rails. Network Rail has 30 lineside machines in known problem areas that automatically squirt Sandite on the tracks as trains pass by. The leaf-fall teams have portable Sandite dispensers as well as machines that scrub the rails clean with steel brushes. For the first time this year, they were also able to use a new piece of on-track equipment called a Gator. Looking something like a golf buggy, it can travel on the railway lines at up to 20mph, scrubbing leaf mulch off the tracks and laying a trail of Sandite. Having been trialed in Manchester, it’s success means that it could well become standard piece of kit in Network Rail’s annual battle against leaves.