Southeastern is advising customers to check their train times as an amended autumn timetable is introduced from Sunday.
Some services will depart a few minutes earlier from 13 October as part of a wider plan to help keep trains on time during the leaf-fall season.
It’s estimated around 50 million leaves fall onto the railway in the south-east every autumn.
When mixed with rain and crushed under train wheels – they form a thin layer on the tracks which can be as slippery as black ice.
Scott Brightwell, Southeastern's Operations & Safety Director, said:
"Safety is our top priority and drivers receive additional training to drive in autumnal conditions as trains need more time to stop and start at stations.
"That's why we are making a number of minor changes to our timetable to provide a resilient service over the coming months – while working with Network Rail to reduce delays by clearing leaves from the tracks."
Network Rail’s leaf-busting trains clean the rails with jets of water and lay adhesion modifier – a mixture of suspension gel, sand and steel or iron shot – on the rails to aid traction and help trains run normally.
David Davidson, Network Rail’s Kent 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 treat a total of 318,000 miles of track across the Southern region – roughly 12 times around the planet – to help keep the tracks leaf and ice free so that passenger and freight services are able to continue running safely and reliably this Autumn.”
Check train timetables and find out more on the Southeastern website.
