Leaves on the track delayed arrival times of trains in West Yorkshire again last year but the overall reliability of the service went up.

Leaf mulch was one of the factors which affected arrival times last autumn, according to a report by the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority.

Its findings will be presented to members of the Bradford Passenger Consultative Committee when it meets in City Hall on Friday.

Between October 16 to November 13, 1999, the percentage of trains arriving within five minutes of their booked time dropped from 92 per cent to 83 per cent.

Both Railtrack and Northern Spirit have now pledged to tackle the leaf problem which the report said was the rail equivalent of black ice and forced drivers to reduce their speed for safety.

A Railtrack spokesman said the company had invested £50 million last year to tackle the leaves on the line problem throughout the country.

In West Yorkshire, this included Sandite trains which put a sticky gel/sand type substance on to the track.

Hot spot response teams were also set up to respond immediately to information by the adhesion control teams about any problem areas.

Karen Shipley, for train operator Northern Spirit, said the company was working with Railtrack to identify places where vegetation was the problem.

She said: "We have plans for improving reliability of the trains themselves including the replacement of slam-door trains with new electric units."

But the report showed the reliability of trains across the Metro network was better than 1998 despite being badly affected by a major signalling failure at Leeds in early May.

And the number of trains which arrived within the five-minute time limit was over 90 per cent for the rest of 1999, matching the figures for 1998.

The WYPTE report also looked at improvements to the infrastructure of the rail and bus services.

Helen Kidman, the chairman of the Wharfedale Rail Users' Group, said she accepted that leaf mulch was a genuine problem.

But she added: "Modern trains are quite lightweight so the only answer is heavier trains which brings its own problem because the existing lines would need much more maintenance.

"We are expecting some new trains to come into service starting in March but until then the problem will continue. Punctuality is a problem but the more immediate problem is overcrowding."

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