Network Rail will test laser trains to remove leaves off rails this fall


It’s the bane of train travellers who have endured many cancellations and delays—leaves on the line.

However, new laser technology being tested by train experts may soon put an end to it.

This fall, “laser trains” that zap leaves off lines will be tested for the first time by Network Rail, which maintains the nation’s rails and signalling.

The oily film formed as leaves are piled up and continually squeezed by carriages is “vaporised” by lasers mounted to the underside of trains. This oily coating might resemble black ice on the roadways.

Over the last four years, leaves on the route have caused 3,450 hours of delays and more than 34,600 trains to be disrupted.

The problem is thought to cost the business and customers over £300 million annually.

A research from February concluded that one passenger train likely skidded along two miles of crushed leaves on the route, leading to the collision of two passenger trains in the area of Salisbury in October of last year.

It featured a Great Western service from Portsmouth Harbour to Bristol Temple Meads and an SWR train from London Waterloo to Honiton in Devon.

The SWR train failed to stop at a red light, and the two collided as they entered the same intersection at the same time. In the same general direction, they had been moving.

Starting in October, Network Rail will test the system on sections of the east Lancashire line.

It was created by Laser Precision Solutions, located in Amsterdam.

In order to increase adhesion with the wheels of the train, Network Rail now utilises trains that blast leaf detritus with high pressure water jets before sprinkling sand on the rail head.

On the Long Island Railroad in New York, the laser technology has been operational since 2018.

Weather-related train delays decreased by 65% during the first year of operation, while cancellations declined by 48%.

Even with the finest planning, leaves still fall on the line every autumn, which may create the same conditions as black ice on the roads and cause delays for passengers.

“As part of our ongoing efforts to combat leaf fall and the disruption it causes, we regularly trial new technologies to assess their suitability and add to the measures we already have in place to help keep passengers travelling safely and dependably throughout autumn, such as our fleet of over 60 leaf-busting trains and the deployment of frontline staff at key locations,” the company said.


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