I'm stuck in stupid America, but my British friends tell me of regular rail delays because of leaves on the rails. I assume that isn't a problem with these trains, so why is this a problem in the UK?

[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago (1 children)

It's a big problem for anything using rails. https://youtu.be/ZEuFSw-CMzU?feature=shared

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

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[–] L3mmyW1nks 11 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Maybe they're just taking a piss? Same for the whole train system shutting down due to a single snowflake.

[–] FlyingSquid 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I've been looking into it since I posted that and apparently it makes the rails slippery and the trains have to slow down because of it and trains have to slow down because of it.

https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/leaves-line

So I guess the answer is that these trains have to slow down too.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This looks more like a tram than a train and they don't go fast anyway, so I don't think they'd need to slow down.

[–] FlyingSquid 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Probably true. I didn't realize it was a speed issue until I read up on it.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

From what I experience on the subway and tram on rainy days is that starting from a stop is also tricky, since steel wheels on steel tracks have not a lot of grip on rainy days, leaves make it worse, so the wheels spin in place and it feels like a slow, rocky start.

So I figure they also drive a little slower overall not miss the stop.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Huh, I'm riding the tram/subway frequently and never noticed any issue when it's raining.

Maybe your trams have fewer powered axles? I know of a city whose trams solely have powered axles, allowing them to drive on unusually steep gradients in any weather.

[–] uis 2 points 10 months ago

Sand

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

My city is pretty flat, so I'd guess that they don't need all powered axles? In the subways it happens more frequently on the longer trains, that are full, so during peak hours.