Teflon Leaves

Following on from yesterday’s post and triggered by the comment made by City Slicker today’s post investigates the mystery of train delays due to leaves on the line.

I have travelled by train to various countries at various times of the year and I have encountered problems with frozen diesel, frozen power lines, cows on the track, melted rails and signal failures but only in England have I come across delays caused by leaves on the line.
To top it all this is not an isolated incident but happens here in autumn on a regular basis.
Even the time-table is amended to cater for delays thus caused!

So let me get this right:
A train weighing several tonnes is somehow affected by some leaves weighing less than 10 grams!
(draws picture in head)
Nope, still don’t get it!
But wait!! Help is at hand via the nice people from Translink who explain:

When leaves fall on or close to the railway line, they are swept up by the turbulence caused by passing trains and compressed under the wheels of the carriages. The leaves are pounded into a hard, black, shiny Teflon like substance which is difficult to remove. The problem is exacerbated during bad weather.
Crushed leaves become slippery when wet which causes a greasy ‘mulch’ to cover the rail. This mulch is to rails what ice is to roads. The poor adhesion between the wheel and track makes it difficult for trains to slow down and stop and causes ‘wheel slip’.

Now, that makes sense!!
My only question is . . why does this only apply to English leaves?? Do they have a special coating only seen in this part of the world?
If, as Translink put it, the crushed leaves turn into a Teflon like substance, could that be the reason why Britain is currently not partaking in the latest trials of magnetic trains, as the leaves solve the ‘friction’ problem?