Field trials of cryogenic cleaning using a road-to-rail vehicle with assessment of the effects on both DMU braking and rail head cleaning

Contamination of the rail head by organic matter (also known as ‘black layer’) and oxides is known to affect traction levels, causing safety issues, delays and schedule changes. There are few options available for rail head cleaning that can be widely deployed on all mainline infrastructure. Currently, the main solution is to employ specialist rail head treatment trains (RHTTs) that clean the rail head with high-pressure water jetting. These trains are not able to cover all of the UK mainline infrastructure, due to their limited availability and gauging issues. As such, there is a need for a rapidly mobile solution that can expand this capability, with specific reference to the routes that receive less regular cleaning treatments. This paper reports on the field trials of cryogenic blasting, carried out at the Quinton Railway Technology Centre at Long Marston, and the effect this has on both cleaning the rail head and improving train braking.