Specially adapted 'Sand Rover' 4x4 keeping Devon's trains running safely and on time

A specially adapted 4x4 is helping to keep Devon's trains running safely and on time this autumn.

The 'Sand Rover' can travel both on the road and on rails. When trialled it reduced delays caused by leaves on the tracks by 80%.

Thousands of tonnes of leaves fall onto railways every year, proving hazardous for trains if they stick and become slippery.

Craig Munday, Mobile Operations Manager for Devon & Cornwall, Network Rail said this is a serious problem: "The primary issue is safety, trains not being able to stop is a huge issue.

"There are issues to the traction itself, wheel spins can cause an awful lot of trouble, tyre damage and then of course performance, performance is affected dreadfully by delays caused by leaves on the line, it might need us to go out and manually treat it or make special stops.

"Anything we’ve got in our arsenal to get the rails back to shiny this time of year we certainly use."

The Sand Rover travels along the tracks at 5mph.

It uses specially mounted wire brushes to scrub where needed and applies a citrus-based treatment.

It then coats the rails with dry sand to provide better grip in wet autumn weather.

The vehicle works overnight once the branch line trains have stopped in the evening.

Cornish rail routes rely on manual clearing and on a Rail Head Treatment Train, which clears 340 miles of track across Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Wiltshire each night from 6 October to 6 December.

Scott Harrison, Managing Director, Aquarius Railroad Technologies Ltd said: "We’ve currently got five units out doing leaf fall for Network Rail.

"It's ideally suited to branch lines and areas with poor access points. It really has taken the network by storm."