Trains delayed by "leaves" on track

foggy_lad

There are several reports on Irish railway news of trains being delayed by up to 30 minutes by leaves on the tracks but no announcements from Irish rail about these delays it seems. Do they think if they stay quiet about the delays trains will suddenly arrive on time? THe problems appear to be caused by falling leaves but of course nobody in Irish rail could foresee this as it is not like we have seasons months or even leaves that change colour when about to fall to the ground!

Cookie_Monster

every rail network in the world has problems with falling leaves, not just ireland

They turn to sludge when wet, reduce traction and braking efforts and coat the wheels and other equip in muck that further affects them unless cleaned off.

which would you prefer: a delayed train or one that skids along the rails uncontrollably when it tries to brake coming into Heuston and crashes?

foggy_lad

Surely to god as this is a yearly occurrence Irish rail should have been prepared for it especially as they have been caught with tpants around their ankles so often before?

User Friendly

Trains delayed by leafs on the line....... A common problem as already stated.

Motley Crue

User Friendly wrote: »

Trains delayed by leaves on the line....... A common problem as already stated.

Common enough, but I do agree with foggy that there should at least be a press release made about the problem - and perhaps Irish Rail would at least let customers know that they know this is a seasonable problem and that the weather is, whether commuters like it or not, out of their hands

Commuters will like to throw the backlash at Irish Rail, IR should just be prepared to defend themselves and say 'hey, not our fault, we blame God or the weather or something....'

novarock

I think it is one of those things that is unpreventable. Leaves are bad news for trains.. They can hardly have people on the lines with leaf blowers.

Cookie_Monster

They run poster campaigns every year, well on the DART at least. what do you want them to do, be out all night every night monitoring every mile of track?

foggy_lad

novarock wrote: »

I think it is one of those things that is unpreventable. Leaves are bad news for trains.. They can hardly have people on the lines with leaf blowers.

I suppose there is nothing else that can be done like having something fitted to trains to clear the leaves as they operate? How is snow and ice dealt with?

I bet their punctuality and reliability figures at the end of the month are not affected by all these delays!

User Friendly

foggy_lad wrote: »

I suppose there is nothing else that can be done like having something fitted to trains to clear the leaves as they operate? How is snow and ice dealt with?

Well if the wrong type of snow falls,then the trains cant operate.

Polar101

Motley Crue wrote: »

Common enough, but I do agree with foggy that there should at least be a press release made about the problem

Surely the customers already realize it's autumn? Most people who have travelled on a train or a tram must be aware of this problem with leaves.

foggy_lad

Most people would not know about uhh problem and obviously understandably Irish rail don't want to highlight ongoing delays by issuing a press release as they will lose passengers by doing so, but they will lose far more by not letting people know about the delays. If people know they can plan around it or get the bus for a while then go back to the train but without any warning or notice many see the service as being too unreliable to depend on for sgetting to work.

syklops

novarock wrote: »

I think it is one of those things that is unpreventable. Leaves are bad news for trains.. They can hardly have people on the lines with leaf blowers.

Could they not fit leaf blowers to the front of the train? Or a small revolving brush which brushes leaves away from the wheels?

corktina

leafs ffs LEAFS....read the title:D

corktina

Leaf Residue would be more accurate. The problem is that trains now are disc braked rather than having shoes which act directly on the tread of the wheeel. The residue doesnt get cleaned off by the shoes anymore, hence problems. Water cannons seem to be the Uk solution.

Cookie_Monster

corktina wrote: »

leafs ffs LEAFS....read the title:D

leaf (lf)
n. pl. leaves (lvz)
1. A usually green, flattened, lateral structure attached to a stem and functioning as a principal organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in most plants.
2. A leaflike organ or structure.
3.
a. Leaves considered as a group; foliage.
b. The state or time of having or showing leaves: trees in full leaf.
4. The leaves of a plant used or processed for a specific purpose: large supplies of tobacco leaf.
5. Any of the sheets of paper bound in a book, each side of which constitutes a page.
6.
a. A very thin sheet of material, especially metal.
b. Such leaves considered as a group: covered in gold leaf.
7. A hinged or removable section for a table top.
8. A hinged or otherwise movable section of a folding door, shutter, or gate.
9. One of several metal strips forming a leaf spring.
v. leafed, leaf·ing, leafs
v.intr.
1. To produce leaves; put forth foliage: trees just beginning to leaf.
2. To turn pages, as in searching or browsing: leafed through the catalog.

:P:P:P

KC61

They do send out sandite machines on the tracks at night to try to give the trains additional adhesion, but it can only do so much.

It is a problem that every rail network suffers every autumn unfortunately.

thomasj

And if you use the maynooth line, you'll be aware of the effect it has on trains departing stations!

corktina

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

leaf (lf)
n. pl. leaves (lvz)
1. A usually green, flattened, lateral structure attached to a stem and functioning as a principal organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in most plants.
2. A leaflike organ or structure.
3.
a. Leaves considered as a group; foliage.
b. The state or time of having or showing leaves: trees in full leaf.
4. The leaves of a plant used or processed for a specific purpose: large supplies of tobacco leaf.
5. Any of the sheets of paper bound in a book, each side of which constitutes a page.
6.
a. A very thin sheet of material, especially metal.
b. Such leaves considered as a group: covered in gold leaf.
7. A hinged or removable section for a table top.
8. A hinged or otherwise movable section of a folding door, shutter, or gate.
9. One of several metal strips forming a leaf spring.
v. leafed, leaf·ing, leafs
v.intr.
1. To produce leaves; put forth foliage: trees just beginning to leaf.
2. To turn pages, as in searching or browsing: leafed through the catalog.

:P:P:P

my bad..never too old to learn....

Run_to_da_hills

Thank God we don't have third rail in Ireland. :pac:

BenShermin

Whatever next, maybe a thread about leaves delaying Bus Éireann services?

BenShermin

I'm not standing up for Irish Rail, I hate the company but I commuted with them from 2003 until 2008 and every October I saw advertisements posted on all commuter trains, DARTs and stations I went through about the leaf fall season. Even the old Clondalkin Station had a advert!!

kingshankly

the problem of leaf fall can't be underestimated. it leads to trains sliding when braking and slipping when accelerating. drivers will brake a lot earlier approaching stations and hit platforms at a greatly reduced speed . then when taking off have to keep trains in a low gear to obtain traction, so it would not be unusual for a train to loose 15 minutes from Drogheda to Dublin

A Dub in Glasgo

The leaf mulch also affects train detection systems and fools the system into thinking the there is no train there which has huge safety impact.

Funny enough, over here when Network Rail decided to cut back the trees on their land - the people living close to the tracks went berserk and it was splashed all over the media that the railway was not environmental enough!