{"id":319810,"date":"2025-11-20T20:23:53","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T10:23:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/railuk.com\/?p=185568"},"modified":"2025-11-20T20:23:53","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T10:23:53","slug":"network-rail-deploys-road-rail-vehicle-to-combat-leaves-on-the-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=319810","title":{"rendered":"Network Rail deploys road-rail vehicle to combat leaves on the line"},"content":{"rendered":"

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An innovative Aquarius road-rail Land Rover is helping drive Network Rail\u2019s efforts to keep leaves off the line during autumn.<\/p>\n

At this time of year, falling leaves are crushed under train wheels, creating a slippery black layer on the rail.<\/p>\n

This significantly reduces the friction between wheels and track, and also creates a separation between them which can mean failures in the train detection equipment \u2013 both infamous causes of delays and other dangers.<\/p>\n

To address this, Network Rail operates 67 railhead treatment trains (RHTTs) nationally, delivering 200 million litres of high-pressure water every autumn and applying a gritty paste called sandite to improve grip.<\/p>\n

But RHTTs cannot access the whole network, which is where the converted Land Rover Defender comes in.<\/p>\n

At other times of the year, the vehicle is part of Network Rail\u2019s North & East route\u2019s regular maintenance fleet, moving staff up and down the railway safely during shifts. But come autumn, it becomes the \u2018Flon Rover\u2019 \u2013 depositing a solution called Interflon OTR, which breaks down the leaf matter and keeps the rail clear of contamination.<\/p>\n

It covers up to 20 miles of track per night across the Yorkshire and the North East. Over the course of autumn, will visit the likes of Goole, Howden, Saltmarshe in East Yorkshire; Knottingley, West Yorkshire; Stocksfield in the North East; and Strensall, North Yorkshire \u2013 to name a few. The solution is sprayed from nozzles at the rear of the vehicle, controlled from a pump at the front.<\/p>\n

Developed in collaboration with Aquarius and based in York, the \u2018Flon Rover\u2019 is used both proactively \u2013 according to a seasonal treatment calendar \u2013 and reactively, in areas where the contamination keeps building up.<\/p>\n

Rhiannon Jones, signalling maintenance engineer for Network Rail, said: \u201cWe\u2019ve integrated the \u2018Flon Rover\u2019 into our seasonal maintenance routine and have been making as much use of it as possible. It\u2019s made a real difference in reducing the number of failures relating to leaves causing problems on the line.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s part of a huge team effort at this time of year, from inspection and treatment out here on the railway to performance analysis and weather forecasting. Every role contributes to keeping passengers safe and services running smoothly.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>An innovative Aquarius road-rail Land Rover is helping drive Network Rail\u2019s efforts to keep leaves off the line during autumn. At this time of year, falling leaves are crushed under train wheels, creating a slippery black layer on the rail. This significantly reduces the friction between wheels and track, and also creates a separation between [\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":[2305,16015,16176,47,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-319810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment","category-permanent-way","category-rail-equipment","category-rail-news","category-uk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319810","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=319810"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":320535,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319810\/revisions\/320535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=319810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=319810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=319810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}