‘Ctrl Alt Deleaf’: How Network Rail are keeping us safe this Autumn

Photo credit: Kieran Cleeves/PA Media Assignments

Browning leaves, chilly mornings, and dark evenings - autumn has crept up on us once again. The rain drizzles down, the wind rustles through the trees, and nature has begun its seasonal shift. While we reach for our scarves and hot drinks, the railways face their own seasonal challenge: leaves.

Yes, leaves. As picturesque as they are on the ground, when they fall onto train tracks, they become a serious safety hazard, creating a slippery layer that can affect braking and acceleration, much like black ice on the roads. That’s why Network Rail swings into action every autumn, deploying specialist teams and high-tech equipment to keep the tracks clear and passengers safe.

Network Rail have invested over £100m to tackle leaves on the line. This season, a new innovation has been rolled out to help keep Britains railway network leaf free. Enter ‘Ctrl Alt Deleaf’, the leaf busting train named by the public. Along with its fleet, these trains will blast leaf mulch off up to 1.12 million miles of track this autumn.

Did you know?

• Britain’s 20,000 miles of railway have to cope with around half a million tonnes of leaves ever year, that’s the weight of 100,00 African elephants! This build up of leaves can cause trains to slip or slide when accelerating and braking, and can prevent signallers from bring able to detect when trains enter a new section of track.

• Last year, leaf-fall caused major adhesion issues and thousands of hours of train delays. To tackle this, the railway used additional measures, such as weather-based speed technology, and AI to pinpoint and manage high-risk vegetation areas year-round.

• Between September and December, Network Rail’s fleet of trains will cover 1.12 million miles of track (that’s almost 45 times round the planet!), spraying tracks with high-pressure water jets and applying adhesion modifying gel to decrease the impacts of leaves on the line.

‘Ctrl Alt Deleaf’ and its fleet of trains are the unsung heroes this autumn, working non-stop to keep the tracks leaf free, but we’d also like to acknowledge each and every rail worker whose efforts are keeping the rail network moving and running this season.

You can find out more by reading Network Rails article here.