Drivers tends to slow down earlier if the tracks conditions are shitty, to avoid triggering emergency breaking. That's why in autumn in France, a 2h52 train tr

Drivers tends to slow down earlier if the tracks conditions are shitty, to avoid triggering emergency breaking. That's why in autumn in France, a 2h52 train trip like La Rochelle-Paris will be marked as taking 3h04 or 3h08 to account for the slow-downs. Snow is manageable, ice too (until a certain point i guess? In France it's manageable). Leaves though, they have to be cleaned. They are easily the worst from what i heard (although a girl from Salt Lake City told me a story about crickets on railroads, so i guess that could be worse).