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Scotland’s Railway has launched its autumn treatment programme to remove leaves and debris from the tracks and help keep passengers safe on the rails this autumn.

Network Rail’s special fleet of leaf-busting trains will operate around-the-clock until December, helping to keep passenger and freight services on the move and reducing delays during this challenging period.

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

With thousands of tonnes of leaves falling onto Scotland’s Railway each year, trains passing over them compress leaves onto damp rails, leaving a slippery black surface which affects train braking.

This can cause services to overshoot signals or platforms and affect signalling systems – making it harder for signallers to track where trains are on the network.

The seven-strong fleet of specialist rail-head treatment trains (RHTTs) and multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) use high-pressure water jets to clean tracks before coating them with a special adhesive to improve traction.

For the first time, Network Rail will also be running one of these trains to Oban on the West Highland Line.

These special trains will be supported by teams of leaf-busting engineers who’ll tackle 78 trouble spots across Scotland.

On the West Highland Line between Glasgow, Fort William and Mallaig, a specially adapted road-rail Land Rover or ‘Sand Rover’ will also be in use, laying traction gel to keep trains moving.

Liam Sumpter, Network Rail route director Scotland, said: “Leaves on the line can pose a real danger to the safe operation of the railway – affecting a train’s wheels in a similar way to how black ice affects your car.

“Every autumn we run a huge operation to treat tracks and keep trains running. Our teams of engineers will be out on the ground around-the-clock and our rail head treatment trains will cover thousands of miles of track as we work hard to keep our customers moving.”

Specialist staff in the railway control room will co-ordinate all these efforts in real-time.

They will use their experience, knowledge and weather forecasts to move resources to where they are most needed, with intelligence from train drivers, staff on the ground and data from trains also used to great effect.

Network Rail has been working together with ScotRail on preparations, with their train fleets also being prepared for autumn. Everything from wheel condition to windscreen wiper blades are inspected proactively.

In depots, equipment used to repair wheels damaged by the impact of increased braking has undergone planned maintenance and train wheelsets showing signs of wear were changed during the summer, to avoid unnecessary problems during autumn.

David Simpson, ScotRail Service Delivery Director, said: “The autumn weather can be a challenging time for the railway, as each year, leaves fall on the line which can make the rails dangerously slippy.

“We know few things frustrate customers more than when their train is delayed because of leaves on the line. That’s why, this autumn, we’ll be working flat out alongside our colleagues at Network Rail out to keep rails and train wheels clean to help minimise the impact the weather has on our customers and ensure they are kept up to date with accurate information about their journeys.”