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Thursday 29 Dec 2016

Transport Minister views unique £1m snow-clearing train

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Transport Minister Humza Yousaf visited the ScotRail Alliance’s Perth depot recently to view a unique severe weather engineering train that will help keep Scotland’s railway running this winter.

The £1m winter train has been specially-designed to melt the snow and ice that can build up on key sections of track during the prolonged cold spells seen during a Scottish winter.

Mr Yousaf met the engineers who will operate the train this coming winter and saw a demonstration of the kit on board. The only vehicle of its kind in the UK, the train was developed in response to the severe weather of December 2010 which caused significant disruption to services.

The train is fitted with specialist heat-lances that can be used to quickly defrost points and other vital infrastructure and it can also be used as a mobile depot transporting engineers around the rail network when roads are closed.

Mr Yousaf said: “Transport Scotland is working closely with the ScotRail Alliance to ensure they are prepared for potential severe winter weather. I am especially keen to see further improvements in terms of the operational response, customer services and travel advice.

“It was invaluable meeting the team at Perth this morning to see how preparations are progressing. It is reassuring that the ScotRail Alliance has the mobile snow and ice clearance train that can thaw junctions quickly on stand-by.

“Key routes for busiest passenger flows and business critical trains have been identified for enhanced resilience and the weather forecasting system and alert service has been robustly tested, meaning more  localised details on impacts will be available to ensure passengers can take informed decisions.”

As well as the specialist winter train – the ScotRail Alliance’s fleet of 10 Scottish-based snow ploughs will also be in full operation throughout the winter supported by the railway’s helicopter unit which uses thermal imaging to identify spots where severe weather could take hold.

Teams of engineers will also work around-the-clock through any severe weather to man key pieces of infrastructure and help prevent them from freezing up, while additional staff will be available to clear platforms and car parks for customers.

David Dickson, infrastructure director for the ScotRail Alliance, added: “We have been planning extensively with the Scottish Government to get our railway fully prepared for winter and to make sure we can help keep passengers on the move whatever the weather.

“The ability to deploy this unique snow and ice treatment train on to our network alongside additional engineers and modern smart monitoring techniques will enable us to respond quickly to periods of extreme cold weather.”