Climate Adaptation Strategies to Safeguard Rail Infrastructure

Railways play a vital role in the transport sector, offering economic and social services while ensuring the safe, efficient, and reliable movement of people to their destinations and the transport of goods to the market.

However, railways are constantly subjected to extreme natural weather events, which can shorten their life span, threaten their operations, and increase maintenance and operational costs. Railways, therefore, need to build resilience to withstand the growing threats from the escalating frequency and intensity of extreme events and build resilience for faster recovery to minimise impacts on people, society, and the economy.

Studies show that most railway failures linked to weather extremes are due to high temperatures, rainfall, ice, storms, and lightning. In the Netherlands, 4-10% of rail failures are linked to adverse weather conditions, with 1,230 disruptions in 2018 alone due to extreme weather.

Similarly, in the UK, high temperatures have led to more rail buckles, with 137 incidents in 2003 costing £2.5 million in delays and repairs. Rail buckles are expected to become four to five times more frequent by the 2050s. Weather also causes around 20% of unplanned delays, and it is estimated that weather accounts for about 1.6 million delay minutes each year.

In Austria, floods and rain cause about 95% of infrastructure damage. These weather impacts lead to various costs, including infrastructure, operation, and user costs.

A 2021 study titled “Implications of Climate Change for Railway Infrastructure” provides an in-depth analysis of the effects of climate change on essential infrastructures and the resulting cascading impacts on interconnected systems. The study discusses risk management and approaches to handling uncertainties. It highlights various instances of railway damage caused by extreme weather events such as severe heat and cold, floods, and landslides across different nations.

Additionally, it outlines climate adaptation strategies and best practices in railway infrastructure that can help enhance resilience in both railway systems and related sectors. This study can assist infrastructure owners and managers. It emphasises the importance of climate models, including global climate models (GCMs) that offer a broad perspective with lower resolution, regional climate models (RCMs) that provide detailed insights for specific areas, and local climate projections that utilise downscaling techniques to better understand the implications of climate change.

The graph from the paper below identifies extreme weather impacts and their impacts on railway infrastructure:

The study provides some examples from around the world of how extreme events can disrupt transport systems.

The severe flooding in central Europe in June 2013 shut down a significant rail bridge in Germany for four months, closed the Brenner Crossing in Austria for over a week, and caused extensive damage to track and other infrastructure across the region.

On January 18, 2018, a mighty windstorm led to widespread closures of the Dutch rail network and caused delays and suspensions in Germany and the UK. In 2019, Typhoon Hagibis caused significant destruction in Japan, flooding a yard that housed high-speed trains and leading to service disruptions and cancellations.

Integration of climate adaptation into railway safety

Adapting railway systems to extreme weather and climate change should be part of the existing railway safety practices, which already focus on managing risk through infrastructure changes, operating procedures, and staff training.

The study shows how to incorporate climate adaptation strategies into railway risk assessments as follows:

• Reducing exposure to the hazard – for example, creating flood diversion channels to prevent excess water from reaching railway infrastructure.
• Reduce the vulnerability of assets—for example, make components more resilient to a broader range of weather conditions.
• Reducing the impact of failures – for example, providing redundancy within the system, providing alternative service routes unaffected by the same risks as the central infrastructure, and enabling quick recovery by ensuring the infrastructure manager can respond quickly and effectively to restore services. This risk assessment might involve temporary solutions, like portable flood barriers, to control damage and speed up repairs.

Climate adaptation of railway infrastructure examples

Below is a graph from the study that offers a practical example of how to adapt railway infrastructure to climate change.

The study highlights that managing the risks posed by climate change requires a comprehensive approach that includes:

• Improved Risk Assessment Models. As climate change introduces more uncertainty, the study calls for developing advanced risk models that can account for extreme events and provide more accurate predictions of future risks. These models should incorporate climate data projections and integrate them into infrastructure planning and maintenance strategies.

• Climate-Resilient Infrastructure. Making railway systems resilient will include reinforcing infrastructure to withstand extreme weather, integrating temperature-resistant materials, raising tracks in flood-prone areas, and improving drainage systems to prevent track washouts or damages.

• Risk assessments involve upgrading infrastructure, including raising tracks in flood-prone areas, improving drainage systems to reduce flood risk, reinforcing bridges and tunnels, and strengthening materials to withstand higher temperatures.

• Early Warning and Monitoring Systems. Progress in early warning and monitoring can be harnessed to improve weather prediction much earlier and detect changes to help operators plan and respond quickly to potential disruptions, take preventative measures, or adjust service schedules.

• Integrating climate resilience into policies. The paper calls for integrating climate change considerations into transportation policies at local, national, and international levels to ensure that future investments in railway infrastructure take into account climate risks and that climate adaptation strategies are incorporated into long-term planning.

The implications of climate change for railway infrastructure are significant, and addressing these risks requires a proactive, long-term approach. Rail operators must adopt effective risk assessment methods, invest in infrastructure upgrades, and develop strategies for extreme weather events.

With proper planning, monitoring, and adaptation, railway systems can continue to play a crucial role in global transportation even as the climate changes. However, the task is complex and requires collaboration at all levels to ensure that railway networks remain resilient and reliable in the face of climate change.