Traditionally, sand was used to aid grip, being released onto the track in front of the wheels from a special 'sandbox'. However, the Slough accident led to two trials on the use of train-borne sanders to aid braking: [...] Now, all new stock is fitted with automatic sanders, as have most of the pre-1994 units still running.
2021 November 17, Greg Morse, “Network News: Background: causes and effects of low adhesion and wheelslide”, in RAIL, number 944, pages 8–9