Track travel
A track trip is a special trip by a rail transport company that takes place when there is heavy snowfall . It ensures that the tracks are cleared or the overhead contact line is scraped free from the ice, so that the respective route remains usable for regular traffic. Lane journeys take place especially during the night when there are no scheduled trains and the snow depth could otherwise increase too much. Above all, they are intended to prevent derailments and are typically carried out with vehicles from the standard fleet, which in this case do not carry passengers.
For example, at the Düsseldorf Rheinbahn , if necessary, “a dozen trams are on track during the night”, in particular to avoid problems with low-floor wagons in the morning , which cannot be used when there is too much snow on the tracks. On the Munich tram , so-called snow cars keep the routes not served by night lines free of snow and ice at night . The turning loops and track connections that are not used in planned traffic are particularly susceptible to icy rails, but they allow useful diversion routes in the event of disruptions and must therefore be kept operational. In contrast, the now common road- rail vehicles with snow plows are often too light to reliably drive the rails free after heavy snowfalls.