I'm so angry at the news that 'water' trains are going to be making more journeys throughout the night in East Sussex. For those that have been lucky enough not to hear these rumbling giants, I can only describe their noises as absolutely deafening, especially at 3am, which for some reason is when they seem to enjoy rolling most of them out. Even if they are necessary for trackworks (and i would argue they are NOT), it seems unfair that we don't even have a say in how many times water trains go up and down our tracks. I guess broken britain really is broken after all.
Whatever you actually mean by "water trains" (and I'm as curious as anyone else, though I have made a few suggestions below), Network Rail and freight companies are not in the habit of running unnecessary trains. You are also unlikely to get a say in anything that they do run, though you may be able to get information about when anything unusual does happen, either by contacting NR or giving us some more specifics (typical locations and dates when this has previously happened would greatly help).
I'm curious to know what a "water train" is.
RHTTs / Weedkillers could fit the description and they tend to run all hours of the day.
I suppose intermodal carrying bottles of water could also fit the bill?
Given a little local knowledge of what usually ends up running overnight in the applicable area, I have the following suggestions:
- This refers to RHTTs undertaking water jetting to clear leaf mulch in autumn (noisy, but very necessary to prevent poor adhesion which adversely affects both trains' wheels and their performance)
- Or it refers to RHTTs spreading weedkiller (usually not quite as noisy but still noticeable, and necessary to penetrate fast-growing trackside vegetation in spring and summer)
- Or
trackdood has misinterpreted what "ballast" means, and thinks it means "water", whereas it actually means the large stone chippings used to hold the track on the trackbed throughout most of Sussex. Ballast often becomes degraded or contaminated with heavy use, which requires it to be mechanically cleaned or replaced in order to continue holding the track correctly, and this process does indeed require lots of noisy, heavy trains. These trains will be noisiest when within a worksite, but this is unlikely to be noticed by local residents for more than a couple of nights a year in all but the busiest locations for rebuilding and maintenance.
(RHTT = Railhead Treatment Train - usually short trains equipped with tanks and spraying equipment)
Intermodal freight carrying bottles of water would be most unusual in much of East Sussex. I do remember some plans from the last few years for transporting water in the event of prolonged hot weather, but I'm not sure this ever actually came about.
They travel in East Sussex between around midnight and 4am. They apparently carry water used in track repair for when the lines have to be shut down.
To help us narrow down some of the suggestions above, all of which do relate to essential works, could you tell us if these trains pass fairly quickly (couple of minutes max), or whether they appear to be very slow moving? Also, can you give us a couple of locations, and previous dates of when this may have happened?