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Already-crammed trains are going to be shorter because of leaves on the line

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Excess leaves on line mean already crammed trains will be made shorter this week as carriages have been removed for repairs.

Train operator Northern warned commuters that services are likely to be even busier than normal because of the adverse Autumn conditions.

Leaves on the track have put 20 Northern train carriages out of action, the company said.

Leaves on the tracks have put 20 carriages out of action this week (Picture: Getty)

Rails are more slippery because the leaves act like black ice on the roads, a video for the train company explains.

They also damage wheels – causing flat spots when trains skid and the brakes are applied – making it more likely trains will have to be taken out of service, the company said.

N. Korea defector soldier is general's son: report Tokyo, Nov 19, 2018 (AFP) - The North Korean soldier who defected to the South in a hail of bullets last year is a general's son but says most Northerners of his age have no loyalty to Kim Jong Un, according to a Japanese newspaper. Oh Chong Song's dramatic dash across the border at the Panmunjom truce village in the Demilitarized Zone - under fire from his comrades - made global headlines last year, and saw him hospitalised with serious injuries. It is very rare for the North's troops to defect at Panmunjom, a major tourist attraction and the only place on the frontier where forces from the two sides come face-to-face. The 25-year-old Oh is the son of a major-general, Japan's Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported, in what it said was the defector's first media interview. But despite his privileged birth - he described himself as "upper class" - he felt no allegiance to the North's leadership. "Inside the North, people, and especially the younger generation, are indifferent to each other, politics, and their leaders, and there is no sense of loyalty." He was "indifferent" to the rule of Kim Jong Un, the third generation of the Kim family to lead the North, and had no interest in how his friends felt about it. "Probably 80 percent of my generation is indifferent and has no loyalty," he was quoted as saying. "It is natural to have no interest nor loyalty since the hereditary system is taken as a given, regardless of its inability to feed people." Oh denied media reports in the South that he was wanted for murder in the North. After some unspecified trouble with friends, the Sankei said, he started drinking. On his way back to his post he broke through a checkpoint and, fearing execution, decided to keep going. "I feared I could be executed if I went back so I crossed the border," he was quoted as saying, adding he had no regrets about defecting. The newspaper said Japanese intelligence officials had confirmed Oh's identity. A short clip posted by the Sankei Shimbun on its website shows him wearing a black jacket and a white top, speaking with a slight North Korean accent. His face is not revealed. 'Heavy punishment' - Seoul's unification ministry - which handles inter-Korean affairs including the resettlement of defectors - declined to comment on the interview and said it does not keep tabs on defectors after they are released from resettlement centres. Lee Cook-jong, the South Korean doctor who treated Oh, told a radio interview last month that the defector had secured a job and bought a car, adding he had nearly lost his North Korean accent. The geopolitical landscape around the Korean peninsula has shifted dramatically since last year when US President Donald Trump threatened to rain "fire and fury" on the nuclear-armed North Korea. "I really felt that we were on the verge of war with the US," Oh was quoted as saying. "The tension (that I felt) trickled down from the top." Now a rapid rapprochement has taken hold on the peninsula and troops in the border truce village where he defected are to be disarmed. Oh said he understands the former comrades who shot him. "If they didn't shoot they would face heavy punishment," he said. "So if I was them, I would have done the same." sh-kh/slb/gleDefector says Kim Jong-un has no loyalty from young North Koreans

The type of leaf on the line also plays a part in how bad the disruption will be, with the company listing horse chestnut, sweet chestnut, sycamore, poplar, lime and ash leaves as the top six worst offenders.

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Carriages have been taken out of service so the wheels can be removed and replaced.

Particularly bad weather conditions last week mean 20 carriages are now being repaired, a Northern spokesman said.

Passengers and a Northern train at Newcastle upon Tyne railway station on the day that the rail operator introduced an emergency timetable, removing 165 trains - 6% of services. table

Northern has warned its customers to expect trains to be more crowded than normal this week (Picture: PA)

The company uses jet sprays attached to the front of its trains to put sand on to the tracks to remove leaves, he added.

Due to excess leaves on the line, some services will be busier than normal this week, Northern said in a tweet this morning.

thumbnail for post ID 8156151Victory for disabled boy as Tesco launches nappies for older children

Customers are advised to check before they travel and we are sorry for any inconvenience.

It continued: Were sorry several of our trains have been shorter and more crowded than normal this week.

Autumn conditions mean the rails are slippery which can lead to flat spots on train wheels.

Our depot teams are working round the clock to repair them and get trains safely back into service.

Network Rail also operates special trains throughout Autumn to improve conditions.

In October, Network Rail, which manages the countrys railway infrastructure, announced plans for eight leaf-buster trains which cover the North West and blast leaves off the railway line.

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