Engineers at Northern are completing ‘battle prep’ three months ahead of schedule as they prepare to confront leaf-fall this autumn.
The operator has introduced a number of fleet modifications as it deploys its increasingly innovative range of tactics to combat leaves on the railway.
In 2018, Northern had 306 trains taken out of service for repairs to carriage wheels caused by ‘wheel-slide’, although this figure was down to 14 by last year.
Among the technology that Northern will deploy this year against its old adversary is:
- Wheel Slide Prevention – technology that prevents wheels from locking while the train is moving, which creates flat spots as they slide along the track. This has been fitted to all trains in Northern’s Class 150 and 156 fleets
- Double Variation Rate Sanders – deploy up to three times as much sand and at a higher speed than previous iterations of the system. These are fitted to all of Northern’s Class 323 trains
- Water-Trak technology – equipment that sprays water onto the track which helps wheels from slipping. All 16 Class 170 trains in Northern’s fleet possess this technology
Northern is confident that these measures will keep disruption caused by leaf-fall to a minimum.
Rob Cummings, Seasonal Performance Improvement Manager, said: "Fallen leaves used to cause significant disruption across the network – but having tried a number of methods in recent years and by fine-tuning our approach – we have been able to cut that right down.
"To be 'battle ready' three months ahead of schedule is a real testament to the team that has worked so hard to ensure our fleet is ready for whatever nature throws at it."
Leaf-fall disruption is caused by leaves sticking to damp rails and trains compressing them into a smooth, slippery layer, which decreases grip.
The huge reduction in time that Northern spends on repairing its own fleet as a result of its anti-leaf-fall technology means that it offers its services to other operators, helping them to repair carriage wheels.
Network Rail also runs ‘railhead treatment trains’ to prevent disruption caused by leaf-fall, but routes are only treated once a day, six days a week.
Image and video credit: Northern
