Animation: Fleet for the Future (Network Rail 2022)

Our New Measurement Train (NMT) monitors and records track condition information at speeds up to 125mph. It helps locate and identify faults before they become a safety issue or affect our performance.Affectionately known as the Flying Banana due to its distinctive yellow livery, the NMT is a unique, high-tech machine that we’ve been using for almost 15 years. More frequent services mean tracks need to be renewed more often. High Output (HO) keeps the railway running, carrying out 70% of Britain’s track renewal work. High Output teams are on the railway every night, carrying out vital track renewals overnight that used to take entire weekends. This means less disruption to train services. The state-of-the-art mobile maintenance trains (MMTs) make working on the railway quicker, safer and more efficient as well as less disruptive for passengers and freight. Eight MMTs provide a ‘workshop on wheels’ for engineers and track workers as they carry out repairs, renewals and upgrades to Britain’s 20,000-mile rail network. Tamping machines do the same job as stoneblowers, restoring the line and level of the track, but work in a slightly different way. Replacing damaged rail is expensive, time-consuming and requires lots of staff on-site. We now have the option to use a dedicated engineering train to improve existing rail. We use many types of snow plough – which to choose depends on the location of the railway line, weather conditions and depth of snow. Our Air Operations team surveys the railway by helicopter and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS, or drones).