Leaf Fall Timetable Changes: Autumn 2024
There are millions of trees next to the railway in Britain and, every autumn, thousands of tonnes of leaves fall onto the tracks. Windy conditions can cause heavy leaf-fall in a short space of time and rain means they are more likely to stick to the rails. When trains pass over leaves, the heat and weight of the trains bake them into a thin, slippery layer on the rail. This is equivalent to black ice on the roads.
How are trains affected?
Slippery rails make it hard for trains to accelerate and brake effectively. Safety is our priority, so when this happens, drivers have to pull out of stations more slowly and brake much earlier for stations and signals to make sure they stop in time. This can lead to longer journey times and delays.
What we do about it – autumn timetables
In areas with very heavy leaf-fall some train operators publish special autumn timetables with revised journey timings. These timetables allow extra time for train drivers to drive more cautiously than at other times of the year, so they can get you to where they need to go safely and reliably. Leaf-fall timetables operate from late September / early October until Saturday 14 December 2024 (unless stated otherwise below).
The following leaf-fall timetable changes have been announced for autumn 2024:
Information will be updated throughout September 2024, when the affected train companies announce details of any changes.
Avanti West Coast
No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.
c2c
No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.
Caledonian Sleeper
No leaf fall timetable changes have been announced.
Chiltern Railways
From Monday 30 September onwards, trains travelling southbound from Aylesbury Vale Parkway / Aylesbury towards London Marylebone on the route via Amersham (the Metropolitan line route) are timed to leave stations up to three minutes earlier until leaving Rickmansworth. This is due to London Underground imposing a 40mph speed restriction from Amersham to Rickmansworth for safety reasons.
Trains travelling north on the route via Amersham, and on the other Chiltern Railways routes, are unaffected by leaf fall changes.
CrossCountry
No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.
East Midlands Railway
No leaf fall timetable changes will be made, with the exception of Swinderby station which is expected to have a reduced service from the end of October (to be confirmed).
Elizabeth line
No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.
Gatwick Express
No leaf fall timetable changes have been announced.
Grand Central
No leaf fall timetable changes have been announced.
Great Northern
No leaf fall timetable changes have been announced.
Great Western Railway (GWR)
No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.
Greater Anglia
No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.
Heathrow Express
No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.
Hull Trains
No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.
Island Line
Significant improvement work will be taking place on the Island Line during the autumn. More details can be found on our engineering work page.
London North Eastern Railway (LNER)
No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.
London Northwestern Railway
No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.
London Overground
Some London Overground trains will arrive at their destination 2-3 minutes later than normal. You can check your journey in Journey Planners.
Lumo
No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.
Merseyrail
Train times on the lines to and from Ellesmere Port and Chester will change from Saturday 12 October onwards.
Northern
Leaf fall timetables will operate on the following Northern routes from Monday 7 October until Saturday 14 December:
Newcastle – Carlisle
Blackpool / Preston – Colne
Manchester Victoria – Clitheroe
Manchester Piccadilly – Buxton
Sheffield – Huddersfield
All timings are in journey planners, and the leaf fall versions of the timetable are available on the Northern website.
ScotRail
No leaf fall timetable changes have been announced.
South Western Railway
Between Sunday 22 September and Saturday 14 December the South Western Railway autumn timetable will operate, with minor changes to train times as we enter leaf fall season.
Train times on the following routes will see minor changes from Sunday 22 September:
Aldershot - London Waterloo via Camberley
Alton - London Waterloo
Basingstoke - London Waterloo (stopping services)
Dorking - London Waterloo
Exeter St Davids / Salisbury - London Waterloo
Farnham - London Waterloo
Guildford - London Waterloo via Bookham, and via Cobham & Stoke D’Abernon
Portsmouth Harbour - London Waterloo via Guildford
Southampton - Portsmouth via Netley
Shepperton - London Waterloo
Weymouth / Poole / Bournemouth - London Waterloo
Windsor & Eton Riverside - London Waterloo
In most cases, trains will depart their origin stations one minute earlier than usual, for example, the 07:48 service from Dorking to London Waterloo will depart at 07:47.
A small number of train times will change by up to five minutes, for example, the 05:55 service from Weymouth to London Waterloo will depart at 05:50.
Some first trains of the day will also depart earlier than normal. For example, the 04:54 service from Basingstoke to Woking will depart at the earlier time of 04:51.
You can check your journey in Journey Planners, and timetables are available to download from the South Western Railway website.
Southeastern
A number of services will be retimed, and some morning trains will depart a few minutes earlier than currently. You can check your train times in Journey Planners.
Southern
No leaf fall timetable changes have been announced.
Stansted Express
No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.
Thameslink
No leaf fall timetable changes have been announced.
TransPennine Express
No leaf fall timetable changes have been announced.
Transport for Wales
No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.
West Midlands Railway
No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.
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