Media centre

Thursday 11 Nov 2010

RAIL HEATERS AIM TO STOP ICE IN ITS TRACKS

Region & Route:

| Southern

More than 16,000m of specialist heating strips have been installed onto the third rail power system across Kent as part of a county-wide trial to improve reliability of train services during harsh winter weather conditions.

Ice forming on the conductor rail, which is used to provide electricity to power the trains, is one of the biggest causes of disruption in the region during winter weather.  A layer of ice on the top of the rail prevents or disrupts power being drawn by the train often resulting in the train being stranded.  By the end of the year, heating elements will have been installed at 42 key locations across the Kent route primarily at points where trains come to a halt.

Dave Ward, Network Rail’s route director for Kent, said: “We are pioneering this new technology in Britain to further improve the reliability of train services during harsh winter weather conditions.  We have analysed weather patterns over the last ten years to identify the most vulnerable areas, and it is these places we are concentrating the trial of the heating strips.

“Last winter was the most severe for thirty years.  Although the railway coped relatively well compared to other forms of transport, we have used the experience to try and make the railway more robust so we can deliver a better and more reliable for passengers.”

The conductor rail heating is one of a number of initiatives being undertaken by the rail industry to improve operations during the winter months.  

To complement this initiative, train operator, Southeastern, has launched on its website a new online table showing at-a-glance how train services on all 12 routes are operating at any given moment. The tool shows either ‘good service’, ‘minor disruption’ or ‘major disruption’ and sits alongside an interactive map. Southeastern has also published a contingency timetable to provide passengers with an idea of what services could look like on the rare occasions it needs to be implemented. Other upgrades have also been made to the website and all drivers and conductors have been issued with Blackberrys to help improve information to passengers.  For more details see: www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/news .

Network Rail has also been working with graduates and research staff teams at the University of Birmingham to assess the benefit of anti-icing and de-icing products.  The findings will feed into other work Network Rail is doing to combat the problems caused by extreme weather.  The company has also worked with specialist weather experts with the aim of getting more accurate forecasts and conditions on the rails.

Similar projects are planned for other parts of the railway in the south east which use the third rail power system, particularly in East and West Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire.