With the weather changing and leaves falling, autumn has arrived. Network Rail is gearing up for its annual multi-million-pound battle against Mother Nature and ‘leaves on the line’, aiming to keep millions of passengers and trains safe and moving over the next three months.
Entering the fray this season is the newest leaf-clearing train, ‘Ctrl Alt Deleaf’.
NetworkRail Autumn MPVs, featuring Ctrl Alt Deleaf – Image, Network Rail.
Network Rail has invested over £100m to tackle ‘leaves on the line’ – the annual scourge for Britain’s railways, and railways across the world – as damp, compressed leaves become the railway equivalent of black-ice on the road, leading to slow running, delays and disruption.
The leaf-kicking train – named by the public in a nationwide vote – is all set to roll out for the first time next week from a depot at Effingham Junction, Surrey, where it’s been showing off its flashy new autumn-themed look. Its mission, along with an entire fleet of similar leaf-busters, is to blast leaf-mulch off the rails – treating some 1.12 million miles over the autumn – to keep them clean and keep journeys running smoothly across the country.
The name reveal follows a public competition in which more than 1,300 individual name nominations were submitted before being whittled down to a shortlist of four by a judging panel of railway historian, author and presenter Tim Dunn, the minister for rail, Lord Peter Hendy, and Network Rail’s industry weather response director, Lisa Angus and then put to a public vote.
‘Ctrl Alt Deleaf’ triumphed after bagging 50% of all votes cast; well clear of ‘Leaf-Fall Weapon’ in second with 23%, ‘Pulp Friction’ in third with 14% and The Autumn Avenger in fourth with 13%.
And who says the British Public doesn’t love a good pun? We escaped Leafy McLeaf Face at least.
Leaves on the Line isn’t a joke, sadly.
Funny name. Serious Business – Image, Network Rail
Over the years, “Leaves on the line” has been the butt of jokes for rail delays. However, it’s no laughing matter, sadly. With 20,000 miles of railway, the railway has to cope with 500 billion leaves every year – that’s about half a million tonnes of leaves.
When these leaves fall on the tracks, particularly during spells of wet weather, they are baked into a thick mulch when trains pass over them, which can prevent signallers being able to detect when a train has entered a new section of track and could lead to trains slipping and sliding resulting in drivers having to drive cautiously, taking more time to brake and accelerate.
This, in turn, leads to delays, with thousands of hours of train delays reported last year.
As well as leaf-busting trains (such as the Network Rail Multi-Purpose Vehicles – The MVP’s), the railway uses a range of different techniques to minimise the effects that autumnal weather can have on train performance. This includes using technology to help determine the safest speeds during wet and windy weather and AI to identify locations where vegetation threats are greatest, as well as managing vegetation encroachment during the winter and spring
Over the leaf fall season (between September and December), Network Rail’s fleet of leaf-busting trains will cover 1.12m miles – almost 45 times around the planet – spraying tracks with high-pressure water jets and applying adhesion-modifying gel to lessen this impact as much as possible and keep passengers on the move.
In Quotes
Lisa Angus, Network Rail’s industry weather response director, said:
“Our leaf-busting trains are the unsung heroes of the British autumn travelling the length and breadth of the country to keep the railway running.
“The scale of the operation involved in keeping passengers moving through the autumn is monumental: Ctrl Alt Deleaf, and our fleet of leaf-busters trains, will cover over a million miles, as well as deploying fast-reaction teams and using more technology (such as drones) than ever before. Our teams will be working non-stop to try and keep the tracks leaf-free this the autumn so that passenger and freight services can continue running safely and reliably.
Tim Dunn said:
‘It was fantastic to see so many members of the public get involved with naming a leaf-busting train. Thank you to everyone who took the time to submit a name and vote for a winner! The leaf-busting trains are a vital tool in Network Rail’s operation to tackle the impact of leaf fall on the railways. I’m delighted that the public has been able to honour these marvellous machines with such a fantastic name.
Expect delays, but it could be a lot worse
With the leaf-fall season very much upon us, delays because of leaves are going to happen. This is where the Railhead Treatment fleet (made up of MPVs, locomotives, cleaners and so on) comes out to play, to ensure the railhead is cleaned and that trains can be detected, as well as adhere to the track.
Those keep the network moving – be it passenger or freight services, even if your train is trapped behind one as the tracks are cleaned, along with driver training for these conditions.
Most train companies will also introduce a Leaf-Fall timetable – so check before you travel.
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