Railhead treatment technology trialled on the Wensleydale Railway
Northern has partnered with engineers and experts at the University of Sheffield to trial new railhead treatment technology that can be attached to passenger trains to combat adhesion problems associated during the autumn leaf fall season – with the operator saying it could save the rail industry millions of pounds every year.
The trials of the new leaf-busting technology are being run on the Wensleydale Railway with two Class 142 Pacer trains thanks to funding from Network Rail’s Performance Innovation Fund.
One of the trains involved, 142090, has been repainted into a black and orange livery to promote the trials. If successful, the system could be fitted throughout Northern’s train fleet from next year.
The cleaning system, developed by researchers from the university’s department of mechanical engineering, works by firing dry ice pellets in a stream of air at supersonic speed at the railhead, freezing any leaves on the line.
The frozen leaves are then blasted away as the dry ice pellets revert to gas. The pellets are made from waste carbon dioxide from other industries. Network Rail routes are currently cleaned using a fleet of railhead treatment trains and multi-purpose vehicles. NR states that each year, the autumn railhead treatment circuits cover a million-plus miles between October and December, with the entire rail network treated more than 50 times. However, the current preferred method of treatment uses about 200 million litres of water; the use of alternative technology could reduce the need for such a large amount of water, as well as reduce the cost of fuel for transporting it around the country, benefitting both the environment and decreasing the cost to the taxpayer.
Northern’s seasonal improvement manager, Rob Cummings, said: “This is a game changer for the industry – the next step in finding a solution to tricky autumn conditions.
“One of the biggest risks to our performance during October and November is ‘leaves on the line’, but by helping to develop new and innovative technology, we aim to deliver the very best service for our passengers.” Professor Roger Lewis, who has led the team at the university which is developing the technology, said: “This is a great example of a university testing and proving an idea in a lab-based experiment and then scaling it up to be trialled and implemented in the field to make impact.
“This can only be done though good teamwork and having champions in the railway industry, such as Rob and his team at Northern.”
The trial on the Wensleydale Railway follows a similar experiment on the East Lancashire Railway in October last year. This used lasers and plasma jet technology, also designed to provide an alternative to the current method of dealing with the challenges of leaf fall.