Nexus, which owns and manages the Tyne and Wear Metro, is investing an extra £100,000 in the clearance of trackside vegetation across the system in a bid to reduce incidents of low rail adhesion in autumn 2014.
The extra resources will be ploughed into cutting back more trees and shrubbery immediately adjacent to Metro lines throughout the system.
Nexus already has a robust programme of vegetation clearance, but even more resources are being pumped into it between now and the end of March.
The move comes after Metro services were hit by unusually high delays during the autumn of 2013, some of which were caused by low rail adhesion, which is brought on by leaf fall on to wet Metro rails.
And later this year Nexus will unveil a new £2m rail tamping vehicle, which will have the capability to treat larger sections of rail affected by low rail adhesion, more quickly and effectively.
The new vehicle is being paid for as part of the £389m Metro all change modernisation programme, a Government-funded project to provide the Metro with refurbished trains, stations and new infrastructure by 2020.
Director of Rail and Infrastructure for Nexus, Raymond Johnstone said: “We have earmarked an extra £100,000 to tackle trackside vegetation well ahead of next autumn.
“The extra work we will be putting in will hopefully prevent a repeat of the issues we had with rail adhesion during October and November of last year. These delays were a huge frustration for Nexus and for Metro customers and we have responded to ensure that we don’t see a repeat of the problem in 2014.
“The vegetation clearance work will take place throughout the year across the 60 kilometres of tracks and trackside areas that we manage and maintain.
“Our new tamping vehicle, which is being paid for as part of the modernisation programme, will give an extra piece of new technology to treat more sections of Metro line more quickly during the autumn, meaning fewer delays to Metro services.”