{"id":287506,"date":"2025-09-19T18:30:23","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T08:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/railuk.com\/?p=182888"},"modified":"2025-09-19T18:30:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T08:30:23","slug":"network-rail-gears-up-for-autumn-as-ctrl-alt-deleaf-takes-to-the-tracks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=287506","title":{"rendered":"Network Rail gears up for Autumn as \u2018Ctrl Alt Deleaf\u2019 takes to the tracks"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Leaves are browning, autumn is around the corner and Network Rail is gearing up for its annual multi-million-pound battle against Mother Nature and \u2018leaves on the line\u2019, aiming to keep millions of passengers and trains safe and moving over the next three months.<\/p>\n

Network Rail has invested over \u00a3100 million to tackle \u2018leaves on the line\u2019 \u2013 the annual scourge for Britain\u2019s railways, and railways across the world – as damp, compressed leaves become the railway equivalent of black-ice on the road leading to slow running, delays and disruption.<\/p>\n

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Entering the fray is a new hero this season, revealed just this morning; \u2018Ctrl Alt Deleaf\u2019! This leaf-kicking train – named by the public in a nationwide vote – is all set to roll out for the first time next week from a depot at Effingham Junction, Surrey, where it\u2019s been showing off its flashy new autumn-themed look. Its mission, along with an entire fleet of similar leaf-busters, is to blast leaf-mulch off the rails \u2013 treating some 1.12 million miles over the autumn – to keep them clean and keep journeys running smoothly across the country.<\/p>\n

Lisa Angus Network Rail\u2019s industry weather response director said: \u201cOur leaf-busting trains are the unsung heroes of the British autumn travelling the length and breadth of the country to keep the railway running.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scale of the operation involved in keeping passengers moving through the autumn is monumental: Ctrl Alt Deleaf, and our fleet of leaf-busters trains, will cover over a million miles, as well as deploying fast-reaction teams and using more technology (such as drones) than ever before. Our teams will be working non-stop to try and keep the tracks leaf-free this the autumn so that passenger and freight services can continue running safely and reliably.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Ctrl Alt Deleaf\u2019 beat thousands of other contenders in the nationwide vote and saw-off other worthy contenders like \u2018Leaf-Fall Weapon\u2019, \u2018Pulp Friction\u2019, and \u2018The Autumn Avenger\u2019, to grab the top spot with half the votes.<\/p>\n

Wrapped in new eye-catching autumnal artwork, \u2018Ctrl Alt Deleaf\u2019 was officially unveiled at the Surrey depot this morning, ahead of its official launch onto Britain\u2019s rail network next week. The train will play an essential role in clearing leaves and keeping passengers moving this autumn.<\/p>\n

The name reveal follows a public competition in which more than 1,300 individual name nominations were submitted before being whittled down to a shortlist of four by a judging panel of railway historian, author and presenter Tim Dunn, the minister for rail, Lord Peter Hendy, and Network Rail\u2019s industry weather response director, Lisa Angus and then put to a public vote.<\/p>\n

\u2018Ctrl Alt Deleaf\u2019 triumphed after bagging 50% of all votes cast; well clear of \u2018Leaf-Fall Weapon\u2019 in second with 23%, \u2018Pulp Friction\u2019 in third with 14% and The Autumn Avenger in fourth with 13%.<\/p>\n

Tim Dunn said: \u2018It was fantastic to see so many members of the public get involved with naming a leaf-busting train. Thank you to everyone who took the time to submit a name and vote for a winner! The leaf-busting trains are a vital tool in Network Rail\u2019s operation to tackle the impact of leaf fall on the railways. I’m delighted that the public has been able to honour these marvellous machines with such a fantastic name.<\/p>\n

Image credit: Network Rail<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Leaves are browning, autumn is around the corner and Network Rail is gearing up for its annual multi-million-pound battle against Mother Nature and \u2018leaves on the line\u2019, aiming to keep millions of passengers and trains safe and moving over the next three months. Network Rail has invested over \u00a3100 million to tackle \u2018leaves on the [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2305,47,180,43,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-287506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment","category-rail-news","category-rolling-stock","category-safety","category-uk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=287506"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":287563,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287506\/revisions\/287563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=287506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=287506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=287506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}