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10/11/2023
Rail News: Maintenance Of Way
NJ Transit rolls out AquaTrack machines for fall cleanup
New Jersey Transit has begun using two AquaTrack machines to clean and remove leaves from rails.
The equipment is a high-pressure power washing system that removes the oily residue left by fallen leaves on the tracks. The cleaning is necessary to prevent train delays caused by “slippery rail” conditions, NJ Transit officials said in a press release.
The AquaTrack system has been in use by NJ Transit since October 2003. It consists of two 250-horsepower diesel-engine units mounted on a flat car with an operator control cab. Two pressure-pump units dispense water up to 20,000 pounds-per-square-inch directly to the top of the rail. The process uses 17 gallons of water per minute.
"Wet leaves on tracks can be extremely disruptive to rail service, especially in the fall,” said NJ Transit Chair Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti.
