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New year, new route.

New year, new route.

They’re a ‘number one pet peeve’.

If you thought the polar vessel Boaty McBoatface was iconic, you haven’t met the latest star of the railways.

When the Arctic exploration vessel RSS Sir David Attenborough was almost named Boaty McBoatface in 2018, it broke the internet like Ibiza final boss did this summer.

Hundreds of train enthusiasts put forward name options for a leaf-busting train, which battles every commuter’s worst nightmare – leaves on tracks.

The British public was asked to name one of the giant machines keeping the UK railways clear of leaf mess – and the public answered, with names like ‘Pulp Friction,’ ‘Leaf-Fall Weapon’ and the ‘Autumn Avenger’ nearly making the cut.

But one suggestion beat the more dad-joke-esque options – ‘Ctrl Alt Deleaf.’

Ctrl Alt Deleaf train will launch into action from the Network Rail Surrey depot next week, wrapped in an autumn-themed branding.

The shortlist of four names was picked from around 1,300 nominations by railway historian and TV presenter Tim Dunn, the rail minister Lord Hendy and Network Rail’s weather response boss Lisa Angus, and the public voted for their favourites.

Dunn, who presents the Secrets of the London Underground, said: ‘It was fantastic to see so many members of the public get involved with naming a leaf-busting train. Thank you to everyone who took the time to submit a name and vote for a winner!  The leaf-busting trains are a vital tool in Network Rail’s operation to tackle the impact of leaf fall on the railways.’

Lisa Angus, Network Rail’s industry weather response director, said: ‘Our leaf-busting trains are the unsung heroes of the British autumn travelling the length and breadth of the country to keep the railway running.

‘The scale of the operation involved in keeping passengers moving through the autumn is monumental: Ctrl Alt Deleaf, and our fleet of leaf-busters trains, will cover over a million miles, as well as deploying fast-reaction teams and using more technology (such as drones) than ever before. 

‘Our teams will be working non-stop to try and keep the tracks leaf-free this the autumn so that passenger and freight services can continue running safely and reliably.’

One of the many quirks on UK railways – besides pesky delays – is the annual leaf fall timetable, which most operators roll in from autumn until December when trees shed thousands of tonnes of leaves on tracks, creating a slippery pulp and causing delays and disruption.

The army of specialist cleaning trains is part of Network Rail’s £100 million ‘battle against Mother Nature’ to clear the tracks of the sticky layer, which is the railway equivalent of black ice on roads.

The leaf-busting fleet treats around 1.12 million miles of tracks every autumn.

In areas with heavy leaf fall, the special leaf-fall timetable allows extra time for drivers to go slower than usual due to safety, as the leaf mulch can make braking and acceleration less effective.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

The hyperloop trains are tested by Hardt Hyperloop, a company based in Rotterdam (Picture: Getty Images)

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If you have travelled anywhere on a train over the past ten years, the chances are you’ve heard the ‘see it, say it, sorted’ announcement – or tried your best to ignore it.

The safety slogan has become a part of travel since it first launched in 2016, with people being told to contact the British Transport Police on 61016 if they see ‘something that doesn’t look right.’

It has spawned countless memes and jokes over the years, with descriptions ranging from mildly irritating to loathed as commuters are exposed to it daily.

But now the Department for Transport has relaunched the campaign to try and tackle rising crime on public transport.

It’s cost of around £400,000 for the relaunch, with the slogan staying the same.

New announcements – made using a real human voice rather than AI – include more detailed examples of kinds of things that could be considered a potential safety risk.

The government has also announced £17 million to improve CCTV cameras on the rail network so that the police can have better access to footage from stations.

Last year, there were 255,088 texts made to the BTP phone line for passengers – more than eightfold since the safety campaign first launched.

Meanwhile, violent crime on the transport networks targeting women and girls has increased, with 11,000 incidents reported in 2023-24 – a 20% increase compared to the previous year. Assaults on passengers were also on the rise.

This Is Not Right

On November 25, 2024 Metro launched This Is Not Right, a year-long campaign to address the relentless epidemic of violence against women.

With the help of our partners at Women’s Aid, This Is Not Right aims to shine a light on the sheer scale of this national emergency.

You can find more articles here, and if you want to share your story with us, you can send us an email at vaw@metro.co.uk.

Read more:

• Introducing This Is Not Right: Metro’s year-long violence against women campaign
• Remembering the women killed by men in 2024

With sexual crimes against women on public transport also on the rise in recent years, the outlook for travelling alone as a woman appears to be bleak.

However, the rail minister, Lord Hendy of Richmond, has sought to reassure women and girls.

Speaking to Metro at Victoria station, he said: ‘This campaign is designed to ask not only you but people around you to spot things going on. If you feel vulnerable, in a difficult situation, reminding others that there is a way they can report, is important.  

‘For you yourself, it is an invitation when something is going on, you can just quietly sit there and text and say what’s happening.  

‘If we didn’t do it, you wouldn’t have those opportunities, and it would be more difficult to say it.

‘And you can say it in real time, you don’t have to make a fuss and make a call, just sit there and text, and then the cops will know.’

Lord Hendy admitted he is pleased that the slogan is staying the same despite calls to change it, and has also said he has used the service himself in the past.

When asked about the criticism that the slogan sounds like people are told to ‘sort it’ themselves, he said: ‘It’s not an invitation to sort the problem yourself. And I don’t think many people think it is. It’s an invitation for people on stations and on trains to tell others what’s going on in order to sort out issues, in particular, for vulnerable people.

‘The government is committed to reducing violence against women and girls – and that’s much more important than anybody who thinks “oh dear, there’s another announcement.”‘

British Transport Police Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi said that while the slogan is about national security, it has also brought in wider benefits over the years from the text messaging, in particular in relation to violence against women and girls.

She told Metro: ‘Passengers play their part in helping to create a hostile environment for criminality on the railway. In the modern world we live in, people don’t want to speak loudly on the telephone and call 999 or 111, whereas you can have a text conversation.  

‘The simple advantage is that you can report criminality and play your part in making it a hostile environment for sex offenders and people who are violent, and we want to deal with that.’

Texts to the phone line do not disappear into the ether, but they are checked and triaged, or urgently assessed, for a response.

Chief Constable D’Orsi said: ‘It goes to our call centre up in Birmingham, it gets triaged as an immediate call with the person, and we’ll ask for more information.

‘The onboard train crew may take a look on what’s happening, and we may board officers at the next available station and come and see what the problem is.

‘My appeal to people is: know what train you boarded, say which direction you’re going in and say which carriage you’re in, that’s really helpful to put that in the original text.’

When asked about the possible closure of dozens of BTP stations across the UK affecting response time, she said the force has had to make some ‘difficult decisions’ to reduce the size of its operation.

She said it has had to ‘prioritise’ and assess where the demand is.

She suggested the recent rise in reports of transport crime affecting women and girls could be partially explained by an ‘increase in confidence and trust of victims in policing to report it.’

‘Confidence in policing has been rocked previously, particularly for women, so it is good to see more confidence in people reporting,’ she said. ‘We are seeing more bystanders reporting behaviour that they see as unacceptable.  

‘We shouldnt lose the focus that within there may be people wanting to come to the railway to commit harrssment, sexual offences, and we are determined to bring the law down heavily on those people. There is no place for sex offenders, predatory sex offenders and people who want to harass women and girls to come onto the railway and think that is acceptable.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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Even tickets using a QR code could soon be out of date.

Even tickets using a QR code could soon be out of date.

A fare-dodging student pleaded with ticket inspectors after being caught red-handed in London.

Almost £200 million was lost to fare evasion in the capital last year.

The sneaky practice is also causing a rift among Londoners as many spend a chunk of their wages on travel, while others avoid paying for tickets or push through barriers even in front of staff.

Another fare evader was caught in action at Clapham Junction.

The sting operation targeting freeriding passengers was captured on the upcoming episode of the Channel 5 series Fare Dodgers: At War With The Law.

Enforcement officers came across a young man at the south London station, where more than 4,000 notices for ticketless travel were issued last year, making it the top fare evasion hotspot on the South Western Railways network.

The man was stopped by enforcement officer Sam on the busy footbridge teeming with commuters, who claimed he had paid for a ticket.

He attempts to play time by saying his ‘phone’s a bit slow, bear with me.’

But when Sam checks the ticket, it appears to have been bought after his trip.

While fiddling with his phone, he had quickly bought a ticket for his travel after the journey.

When Sam asks the man ‘did you buy this one now,’ he says he ‘forgot to tap in’ before a back-and-forth exchange, with the man insisting he did ‘get on the train with it’ despite Sam showing him the ticket was bought at 4.13 – a minute before their conversation.

The man admits: ‘I just panicked. Is there another way to do this?’

While his address is being checked, the student tells Sam to ‘hurry up,’ and that he is ‘nervous, I can’t lie.’

He is asked to show something to verify his address or the ‘police will have to take over and they’ll have to verify you.’

The student says he will speak to the police before attempting to walk away, prompting Sam to tell him to ‘just wait here, buddy. Excuse me, excuse me, where are we going? No, no, just wait.’

In a last-ditch attempt to avoid the consequences, the man continues to insist to the police officer that he bought the ticket on the train.

Eventually, he says the address was for his parents, and that he didn’t want to cooperate for fear of a criminal record.

Becoming more panicked by every second, he says: ‘I’m so nervous, please. I don’t want to get a criminal record, genuinely. I study law at uni. Are you reporting me?’

Sam says: ‘You don’t need to panic. As I said, I’ve just got to do those steps. So just give me two seconds, I’ll finish off, and then we’ll work out what we’re going to do.’

‘I don’t fare evade, I do actually pay for trains,’ the man says.

After being told his case would be referred to the revenue team, he says: ‘I know what it means. It happened to my cousin, he got a criminal record, they took him to court. It’s going to happen to me. My life is finished.’

His case was closed in the end without going to court after he paid the fine, and he had no previous record of fare evasion.

Jack, another train enforcement officer, said after issuing a notice to a mum-of-three at Clapham: ‘There are offenders out there, but some people just can’t afford it, and I completely understand.’

The next episode of Fare Dodgers: At War With The Law is on Channel 5 on Monday, September 1 at 9pm

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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A bank holiday bargain.

The measure of inflation which usually dictates rail fares is staying stubbornly high.

There are long delays expected.

Fares on England’s railways increased by 4.6% this year.