📋 Tender Overview
A Special Fleet Of Leaf-Busting Trains Has This Week Begun Working Across Kent And Sussex To Keep The Railway Running Safely And Reliably. Across The Southern Region - Which Covers The Railway In The South Of England- Tackling The Issue Of Leaf-Fall Requires A Massive Operation Between Network Rail And Train Companies, With Advanced Planning And Specialised Forecasting. The Stars Of The Show - Network RailS Fleet Of Leaf-Busting Trains - Will Again Be In Action This Autumn To Keep The Railway Leaf Free And Running Reliably. Running Around The Clock To And From The Tonbridge Depot In Kent, The Special Trains Will Run Until Mid-December To Keep Tracks Clean. Equipped With High Pressure Water Jets To Blast Leaves Off The Lines And Where Necessary Apply A Sand-Like Gel To Help Trains Grip The Rail Better. The Special Trains Will Work Tirelessly To Treat A Total Of 318,000 Miles Of Track - Roughly 12 Times Around The Planet. In A First This Year, New Sand Rover 4X4 Vehicles Which Treat The Track To Increase Grip Will Be Trialled On Lines In The South East. This Year, They Will Be Helping To Keep Passengers Services On Time On The Hayes Line In South East London, As Well As Protecting Vital Freight Flows, Including Aviation Fuel To Heathrow Airport Via The Grain Branch Line In North Kent. David Davidson, Chief Operating Officer For The South Eastern Railway, Said: There Are Millions Of Trees On Or Next To The Railway, And When Autumn Arrives, Thousands Of Tonnes Of Leaves Fall Onto The Railway. They Stick To Damp Rails And Passing Trains Crush Them Into A Thin, Hard Layer On The Rail Which, A Lot Like Black Ice On The Roads, Can Affect Braking And Acceleration. Just Like You WouldnT Accelerate Over Black Ice On The Roads, We CanT Risk Passenger Safety By Driving Trains At Full Speed Over Leaves. At Southeastern, In Some Areas Of Our Railway Which Have Historically Experienced Very Heavy Leaf Fall, We Have Published Special Autumn Timetables With Revised Journey Timings And Stopping Patterns. These Timetables Allow Extra Time For Train Drivers To Drive More Cautiously Due To The Slippery Conditions Caused By Leaf Fall, Ice And Snow, And, Most Importantly, Passengers Get To Where They Need To Go Safely And Reliably. These Amended Timetables Are On Journey Planners, Our Website And Available In Stations, Too. Lucy Mcauliffe, Network RailS Sussex Route Director, Said: Autumn Is A Really Challenging Time For The Railway, Owing Largely To The Significant Amount Of Leaf Fall And Wet Weather. Our Teams Will Be Working Tirelessly Using Our 25-Strong Fleet Of Specialist Trains To Help Keep The Tracks Leaf Free So That Passenger And Freight Services Are Able To Continue Running Safely And Reliably This Autumn. Working Together With Southern, Thameslink And Gatwick Express, We Will Be Making Sure That Customers Are Fully Informed About Their Journeys And That The Railway Network Across Sussex Is Prepared For The Leaf-Fall Season So That People Can Get Where They Need To Be. John Whitehurst, Chief Operating Officer At Govia Thameslink Railway, Which Runs Southern, Thameslink And Gatwick Express Trains In Sussex, Said: Leaves On The Line Are No Joke. The Weight And Heat Of Trains Passing Overhead Bakes Them Into A Slippery Teflon-Like Substance. Thanks To The Performance Of Our Trains And The Hard Work Of Our Leaf-Busting Colleagues At Network Rail, We WonT Need To Introduce Special Timetables This Autumn But There Is Still The Chance Of Occasional Delays, So Please, As Always, Do Check For The Latest Service Updates On One Of Our Websites Before You Leave For The Station. About South Eastern Railway South Eastern Railway Was Formally Stood Up On 18Th June 2025 And Brings The Publicly Owned Train Operator, Southeastern And Infrastructure Provider, Network Rail Kent Route, Under A Single Leadership Team. This Integrated Approach To Managing The Railway In South-East London, Kent And Parts Of East Sussex Aims To Drive Investment And Efficiency And Deliver For Passengers And Freight In An Important Step Towards The Eventual Creation Of Great British Railways (Gbr). South Eastern Railway Is A Contractual Arrangement Between Southeastern And Network Rail. No Accountabilities Have Been Transferred And Each Organisation Will Remain Responsible For Decision-Making For Its Respective Accountabilities. There Are No Changes To Any Staff Terms & Conditions. Passengers / Community Members Network Rail National Helpline 03457 11 41 41 Latest Travel Advice Please Journalists Paul Prentice Communications Manager 07354 529345 We Own, Operate And Develop BritainS Railway Infrastructure; ThatS 20,000 Miles Of , 30,000 And The Thousands Of , Level Crossings And Stations. We Run 20 Of The UkS Largest While All The Others, Over 2,500, Are Run By The CountryS . Usually, There Are Almost Five Million Journeys Made In The Uk And Over 600 Freight Trains Run On The Network. People Depend On BritainS Railway For Their Daily Commute, To Visit Friends And Loved Ones And To Get Them Home Safe Every Day. Our Role Is To Deliver , So We Carefully Manage And Deliver Thousands Of Projects Every Year That Form Part Of The , To Grow And Expand The NationS Railway Network To Respond To The Tremendous Growth And Demand The Railway Has Experienced - A Doubling Of Passenger Journeys Over The Past 20 Years. Follow Us On Twitter: Visit Our Online Newsroom:
