We’re giving you the unique opportunity to name one of our leaf-busting trains this autumn.
More than a thousand name suggestions have been whittled down to just four.
The power is in your hands to decide which of the shortlist will be given to one of our leaf-busters.
To have your vote, please choose from the shortlist of names below before midnight on Friday 11 October.
Vote for your winner
Voting has now closed. The winner will be announced on Thursday 24th October.
A tough competition
It was a hard job choosing just four names for the final poll after we received more 1,300 individual nominations. Some of the fantastic suggestions including ‘Britney Clears’, ‘Buster Grimes’, ‘Don’t Stop De-Leafing’, and ‘Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Anti-Leaf Machiney’.
Lisa Angus, an industry weather response director at Network Rail and one of the judges shortlisting the names, said: “We had a lot of fun reading through the name suggestions, so a huge thank you to everyone who took part.
“Though this competition is just a way of bringing some light-hearted ‘re-leaf’ this autumn, it’s been great to see a growing awareness of the serious problems leaves on the line pose to the railway, both here and across the world, and an appreciation of the mammoth task we undertake each year to keep passengers moving through the season.”
The danger of leaves on the line
You may think, ‘it’s just a few leaves’ but leaves on the line can cause train delays – and pose a serious threat.
The heat and weight of the trains passing over leaves can bake them into a thin, slippery layer on the rail – like black ice on the roads. This mulch can even interfere with signalling systems by forming a barrier between the train wheels and the electrical parts of the track that help us pinpoint where trains are.
Managing the railway in autumn
There are more than 13m trees on and next to our railway so tackling leaf-fall is a massive operation. Our dedicated leaf-fall teams work around the clock clearing tracks, helped by specialised leaf-fall forecasting and a fleet of multi-purpose vehicles. We treat 1.12 million miles of track – that’s the distance around the world about 40 times – between September and December.
We use tried and tested methods for keeping trains moving through autumn as well as different techniques and new technology in some parts of the country.
For example, in Scotland we’re equipping passenger trains with adhesion gel dispensers. This specialist gel helps train wheels glide smoothly along the track. We’ll also use drones to identify high-risk areas, while specially adapted Land Rovers – known as Sand Rovers – will clean and treat rails.
We’re excited now to give the chance to name one of our unsung heroes of British autumn. Get your vote in now.
