Jet-power to clear leaves on line

Leaves will be blasted off the line using water jets

Rail operators in Scotland are to use special leaf clearing vehicles to keep trains running through the autumn.

Millions of leaves fall onto lines each year and are crushed into a slippery coating similar to black ice on roads.

Network Rail is to use engines that shoot high-pressure water jets and a sand-based gel onto tracks, stopping the leaves from hardening.

The system also stops leaf mulch from insulating the electric current which tells signallers where trains are.

In addition, Network Rail has a mobile gritter for the West Highland line, 38 static gritters for use across Scotland and 12 mobile teams, known as manual hot spot squads.

Acting regional director Jim Bellingham said: "During the past three years Scotland has maintained train performance to a steady standard.

A mature track-side tree has up to 50,000 leaves

"However, we are not complacent and we continue to strive to find new ways of addressing the problems associated with leaf-fall."

Leaves on the line have often been treated as a joke or regarded as a bad excuse for delays but the problem is a serious one in terms of performance and safety.

The slippery coating created by falling leaves means train wheels cannot grip the rail, which causes skidding when braking and slipping when accelerating.

A mature track-side tree has between 10,000 and 50,000 leaves and it is estimated that thousands of tonnes of leaves fall onto railway lines each year.

In Scotland there is 4,190 km of track and it costs between £20,000 and £50,000 per mile to prune and fell track-side trees.