A group of West Drayton residents reported seeing a UFO type light last night (19 November), as beams of blue light were seen moving across the cloudy sky.
The UFO, actually turned out to be a flying banana, yes really! Network Rail uses a special ‘New Measurement Train’, affectionately known as the ‘Flying Banana’ due to its distinctive yellow livery, to monitor and record track and overhead line condition at speeds of up to 125mph.
According to Network Rail, the blue light is part of a measurement system which monitors the amount of wear on the overhead line created by train pantographs sliding along the underside of the contact wire. The data obtained is then used to prevent de-wirements caused by the overhead line breaking as a result of the wire wearing too thin.
