Monday 1 Oct 2018
Network Rail’s leaf-busting teams prepare to keep trains moving on the Anglia rail network
- Region & Route:
- Eastern: Anglia
- | Eastern
Network Rail is carrying out a plan of action across Anglia to combat leaves on the line which can cause delays throughout the autumn months.
The Anglia rail network has over 1,426 miles of track, much of which is surrounded by trees and vegetation.
Leaves cause problems on the rail network when they stick to damp rails and passing trains compress them into a smooth, slippery layer, reducing wheel grip – much like black ice on the roads. To keep passengers safe, train drivers must brake earlier when approaching stations and signals to avoid overshooting their stop. They must also accelerate more gently to avoid wheel spin. All this can increase journey time and leads to delays for passengers.
Leaves can also interfere with the signalling system, by interrupting the connection between the wheel and the track, making it less accurate to detect a train's location.
To combat the issues of leaves on the line, Network Rail has a leaf-busting plan to keep trains moving which includes:
Meliha Duymaz, Network Rail’s route managing director for Anglia, said: “Autumn is a very real problem for the railway industry and our teams of engineers will be working around the clock across the region to keep the tracks clear and keep people on the move. Our teams will be monitoring leaf-fall as always in order to tackle high risk areas before they become a problem for trains.”
Greater Anglia’s Managing Director, Jamie Burles, commented, “We are acutely aware of the frustration and inconvenience felt by our passengers when things go wrong, so we are pleased to be taking action in partnership with Network Rail, making additional preparations to protect train services during what is traditionally a difficult period on the railway. We will be doing all we can, as ever, to make lives a little easier for our passengers, getting them from a to b reliably, on time and in comfort.”
To find out more about how Network Rail tackles autumn, go to: www.networkrail.co.uk/autumn
Notes to Editors
• With 20,000 miles of track and millions of trees growing along the railway, managing vegetation is hugely important to us. If not managed well, trees and fallen leaves can pose a risk to the safe running of the railway and cause delays to trains. To find out more about our approach and how we are cooperating with the current Government review visit: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/vegetation.
Contact information
Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41
Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries
Journalists
Network Rail press office - Katie Mack
Media relations manager (Anglia route)
0330 8577 132
Katie.Mack@networkrail.co.uk
About Network Rail
We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.
Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.
Follow us on Twitter: @networkrail
Visit our online newsroom: www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk