It’s the time of year when high winds blow leaves and fallen debris around. This causes serious problems in terms of safety and delays for commuters. Keeping vegetation under control is an essential job on the UK’s rail network and access platforms for railways play a vital role throughout summer and autumn.
Fallen leaves, overgrown grass verges, and overhanging branches are a hazard on the railways. They cause signal and track obstructions which will delay services, inconvenience commuters and pose a risk to health and safety.
Many miles of UK rail lines are in hard to reach rural areas. road and rail access platforms have overcome this problem and operate on both road and railway in urban and rural environments. This saves time and money, making maintenance work significantly safer.
Throughout the year, access platforms for railways are used for a variety of essential track clearance and vegetation management jobs including:
• Clearing verges and embankments of vegetation and debris
• Leaf collection from tracks and tracksides
• Cutting back overhanging trees and branches
• Improving visibility of signs and signals which may be obscured
• On and off track weed killing
• Hazardous tree removal
Modern access platforms for railways are safer, stronger, more robust. The flexibility to operate on roads and on railway line means the machines are able to cope with a variety of tasks in a wide range of different locations and environments.
Speed and performance are not limited by the dual functionality of access platforms for railways as they can switch easily between the two operating modes and they have a minimal impact on the countryside and environment.
Benefits include:
• 3rd and 4th Rail Compliant
• 4WD to reach areas that are off-road
• Automatic turret levelling
• Large cage capacity for lifting people and equipment
• Intuitive control system with full pictographic ground controls
• Heavy duty rail gear with auto disc brakes on all rail wheels
Many miles of railways track run through remote rural areas of the UK where, during summer and autumn, trees, leaves and vegetation can pose a risk to safety by causing an obstruction or obscuring vital signals and signs. Accessing some areas and keeping on top of the growth can be a challenge, particularly during late summer and autumn.
Access platforms for railways offer a fit for purpose and safe solution to clearing and maintaining railway lines to ensuring there are no expensive delays and inconvenience to passengers.