Ayrshire rail: Specialist trains to keep services moving

Network Rail’s 18 leaf-fall teams and its fleet of seven leaf-busting trains will work around-the-clock to keep trains on the move, reducing delays during challenging conditions.

Leaves on the line are the railway’s equivalent to black ice on the roads, causing trains to lose their grip on the rails and increasing braking distances. 

This can cause trains to overshoot signals or platforms and also affects signalling systems – making it harder for signallers to track where trains are.

To combat this, specialist rail-head treatment trains (RHTTs) and multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) will cover more miles than ever before.

They’ll use high-pressure water jets to clean the rails before coating them with a sandy gel that sticks to them, helping improve train wheels’ grip.

Between September 18 and December 8, more than 80,000 miles of track will be treated by this specialist fleet while teams of engineers will work on the tracks to target leaf-fall black spots.

ScotRail will make changes during autumn to make its timetable more resilient against the adverse conditions that the change in weather can bring.

Most of these will be minor, with changes to calling patterns and arrival times on a very small number of services.

Liam Sumpter, route director at Network Rail Scotland, said: “Our teams will be working extremely hard with colleagues across Scotland’s Railway to keep passengers and freight moving this autumn.  

“Leaves on the line are dangerous, affecting trains in the same way that black ice affects cars.

"To prepare for this, we’re using tried and tested techniques, as well as some innovative technology that will break down leaves and improve traction for trains.” 

“We’ve been working round-the-clock to prepare our trains and our stations for the change in weather. We’ll be making sure the timetable is as resilient as possible, and customers are kept up to date with accurate information about their journeys.”