Information Co-ordinator [Autumn] - What is it?

Autumn weather can make it harder to safely run trains on the railway.

There are over 13 million trees on and 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 the black ice of the railway.

Sometimes trains need to slow down to keep you safe

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.?

To tackle this, we have 6 Information Co-ordinator (Season Controllers) roles up for grabs at West Midlands Signalling Centre!

The role of Information Co-ordinator (Autumn) is varied and fast paced, you would be responsible for reporting on and responding to autumn related incidents.

Working as part of a dynamic control team at West Midlands Signalling Centre, your role will range from working with hauliers to redirect the railhead treatment train fleet in response to an incident, to arranging and implementing mitigations for seasonal weather events based on the latest weather forecast, to producing and issuing various scheduled and ad-hoc reports.

The variation… in the role of Information Co-ordinator (autumn), no two days will be the same! Whilst there will be set tasks that need to be completed each day, the incidents that you are required to deal and implement mitigations for will differ every day. Whilst your role will focus on autumn and other weather/ seasonal issues, you will gain experience of many different roles through daily interaction with the wider control team, signallers and mobile operations managers.?

To apply for our roles, please go to:

Leaves on the line cause problems for the railway – to find out what we are doing to reduce the impact, please visit:

Delays Explained - Leaves NEW