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Rail industry prepares for snow

04/02/2012

Over the coming 24 hours, train companies and Network Rail will be working hard to keep the rail network open for business as the band of snow moves across the country.

Throughout the night staff will be:

- Running de-icer units and empty ‘ghost’ trains to keep tracks and overhead cables free of snow and ice
- Heating points to prevent them from freezing
- Deploying snowploughs if they are needed

A spokesperson for the Association of Train Operating Companies, said: “Many hundreds of staff will be out this evening and tonight to keep tracks and points clear of snow and ice as far as possible. The whole industry will be working hard to minimise the impact of any snowfall on rail services."

Where there has been snow, passengers should contact National Rail Enquiries. As well as going to www.nationalrail.co.uk there are a number of ways to get in touch:

- National Rail Enquiries offers free alerting via Twitter & Email. Sign up for travel alerts at www.nationalrail.co.uk/alerts. Passengers will be alerted as soon as NRE knows there’s a problem with your planned journey.

- Follow NRE on Twitter or Facebook

- NRE's Journey Planner includes the latest up-to-the-minute changes to timetables, along with the real time running status of all trains.

- NRE's new mobile site launched at the end of November. Passengers with smartphones can download an app.

- NRE's Service Indicator – which shows at a glance the status of each train company so you can check what’s happening before you leave the house

- The Train Tracker Text number – 84950 gives real time text updates.