powerful laser to burn away leaves on tracks - trial by Dutch Rail

George Gideon Oliver Osborne is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Second Lord of the Treasury since 2010 and the Member of Parliament for Tatton since 2001.  Osborne  who comes from one of the oldest Anglo-Irish aristocracies, has dismissed "totally hyperbolic" coverage of future spending cuts following his Autumn Statement. The chancellor said arguments made against cuts in 2010 had been wrong. Forecasters predict public spending will fall to levels not seen since the 1930s, suggesting the loss of one million public sector jobs by 2020. George Osborne described some BBC coverage on spending cuts as "nonsense"

At Thirupathi Railway station, there was huge crowd –waiting for the various trains – and some workers were seen manually cleaning the railway tracks – tough and thankless job indeed as not many pay heed to the advice ‘don’t use toilet at Stations’.  In the twilight, Sapthagiri Express came from Chennai and started its way back in less than 20 minutes  ~ the downside is – the train is not cleaned, water not filled and toilets remain untidy !

Autumn (interchangeably known as fall in North America)  is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter- one of its main features is the shedding of leaves from deciduous trees. The falling leaves do create problem of sorts.  In Europe, autumn and falling leaves are known to create train delays.  The leaf litters from leaf mulch forms a slipper layer on tracks.  If untreated leaves are compacted into a slippery Teflon-like surface – due to this train braking distance can double on tracks. For commuters it is perhaps the most baffling annual excuse for delays and cancellations on the railways:  ‘leaves on the line’. Methods including brushing and grinding the rails, washing with jets of water or ice have all been tried, but with limited success.

In Advanced countries, they strive to find solution to most problems – mostly with the help of advanced technology.  Mail Online reports the new innovation being tried upon trying zapping autumn litter into oblivion with lasers. The report reveals that Dutch rail company Nederlandse Spoorwegen is working with the Delft University of Technology and a British inventor to fit powerful lasers under two of its trains to burn away leaves from the tracks.

Fallen leaves cause delays on the rail network because they can cover and stick to the tracks when wet. This can make the tracks slippery in itself, but the problem becomes worse when heavy metal train wheels pass over the top, compacting the material into a hard, shiny substance that has been compared to Teflon. When this layer becomes wet, the tracks become excessively slippery and braking distances can double. Once stationary, trains can also struggle to get going again as they are unable to get traction on the tracks. Leaf mulch can also insulate train wheels from the rails, meaning signallers get less information about the location of trains on the network, meaning trains need to run with bigger spaces between them. The perennial excuse of fallen leaves causing travel chaos has long been seen as a running joke, but according to Network Rail in the UK, leaves caused 4.5 million hours of passenger delays in 2013.

Rail operators hope a new laser system will help them clear the dangerous leafy mulch that builds up on rails. The technology will use intense beams of infrared light to vaporise the build up of material on the rails before the wheels of the train passes over them. The laser device sits just in front of the wheels while a specially designed suspension system helps to keep the high powered beam focused on the layer of mulch that builds up on rails as leaves get wet and break down.  The Laser Railhead Cleaner (LRC) which has been installed by the researchers on a Nederlandse Spoorwegen DM-90 train, sits under the train just in front of the wheels.  The device uses a Nd:YAG laser to pulses of laser light with a wavelength of around 1,064 nanometres, which is infrared. According to experts the wavelength used is specifically absorbed by the leaves and other organic matter that can build up on the tracks, but not by metal. This means that the energy from the lasers is reflected off the rails without damaging them while the leaf material is vaporised, a process known as ablation.

A spokesman for Strukton Rail said: ‘The LRC briefly heats the organic material on the rails and because the organic material expands more rapidly it separates from the rails. The Laser Railhead Cleaner system is being put to trial underneath Nederlandse Spoorwegen DM-90 trains.  The Laser Railhead Cleaner technology was first invented by a former British navy engineer called Malcolm Higgins, who has developed the technology under the company name LaserThor. Their device also uses a suspension system to help protect the optics of the laser from vibrations while the laser also temporarily switches off if it misses its target.

They claim their laser is so precise it can etch a diagram into the head of a match without setting it alight.  A good innovation to the benefit of Rail passengers.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

5^th Dec 2014.