Leaves on the line sounds like an excuse for lateness from the 70s sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.

But Leonard Rossiter’s catchphrase it’s no laughing matter for rail chiefs - nor for passengers in Huddersfield.

It means trains on the Penistone Line between Huddersfield and Sheffield have started running to an amended, leaf-fall timetable this week, adding up to 10 minutes each journey.

The trains run through villages such as Berry Brow, Honley, Brockholes and Stocksmoor, with long stretches through woods and fields.

Services from Huddersfield are now departing up to five minutes earlier and those travelling towards Huddersfield are arriving up to five minutes later than normal.

Rail bosses have included the new services in a new timetable, effective until December 13, which can be downloaded from ‘Timetables & Routes’ in the Trains section of www.wymetro.com

A spokesman for the West Yorkshire Combined Authority said: “Leaves falling on the onto the rails in Autumn are compressed by the weight of passing trains and become a slippery, resin-like substance that is difficult to remove.

“This creates similar conditions to black ice on the roads and means that, like motorists, train drivers need to take extra precautions. Slower acceleration and gentler braking leads to slightly longer journey times.

“The leaf fall timetable takes account of this need for drivers to adjust the way they drive and provides passengers with greater certainty about the length of their journey”.

Autumn leaf fall affects rail lines across the world. In the UK, Network Rail cuts back tree branches and plants along the trackside and has specialist vehicles to keep tracks clear during autumn but despite its best efforts, the company says it is inevitable that problems will still be experienced.

The spokesman said: “Mature trees can have up to 50,000 leaves when mature, so a tree-lined rail route make the Penistone Line, while being such an attractive ride, is also a hot-spot for leaf fall problems”.