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 6 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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 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 6 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 6 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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Sand