Transport and Climate

How climate change will impact the way we move around in the UK and how to reduce the impact

We take mobility for granted. It is easy to get in a car, or hop on a train and travel the length and breadth of the UK. As the climate changes, how will our transport networks cope?

Impacts

As we have seen, climate change is likely to produce hotter summers with an increased chance of heavy rainfall events. Our winters are likely to become wetter. This will cause additional stress on our road and rail networks.

Heat

Climate change will increase temperatures across the UK. Lets explore how heat will affect our transportation network. This includes railways and roads

Tracks can warp

If the steel track warms beyond 50°C the track is at risk of buckling and trains will have to either go slow or not use the line. 50°C seems really hot and way beyond UK temperatures but the track temperature can be 20°C HIGHER than the air temperature. So as air temperature approaches 30°C the track is at risk. 30°C is the critical number.

Overhead powerlines

Overhead powerlines which many UK tracks rely on can sag in intense heat which causes issues for power transition to the train.


Precipitation

Climate change will result in a change to our precipitation patterns. This will mean wetter winters and drier summers overall, but when it does rain in the summer it’s likely to be more intense rainfall.

How will this affect our transportation network?

River flooding

In general it looks like our winters in many parts of the UK will become wetter. This may result in flooding from rivers becoming more frequent and water reaching higher levels.

Surface water flooding

Intense summer rainfall events may become more frequent and more severe. Intense rainfall can quickly overwhelm both natural (rivers and streams) and constructed (drains and culverts) drainage systems causing localised flooding. This can happen very quickly, it can be dry at 3pm and you have a severe flood by 4pm.

You might imagine that the risk from floods is greater from rivers, but currently transport infrastructure faces greater exposure to surface water flooding than river flooding. For example, 596 railway stations and 3,544km of rail network are at risk from surface water flooding across the UK compared to 81 railway stations and 1,144km of rail network at risk from river flooding. 

Use the interactive map to explore the risk of flooding in your local area.

Slips and Slides

Landslides and and subsidence can cause considerable disruption. Both are generally caused by the ground becoming saturated with water after heavy rain. When the vegetation and soil is washed away if can destabilise the ground underneath causing the slope to fail. This affects both roads and railways.

One road in Scotland, the A83, has been closed due to landslides several times in the past few years. In fact, it has been closed for a total of 131 days since 2019 ( source ). This is essentially 1 in 10 days! To give you an idea of the disruption, if the slide is severe then the diversion is 59 miles!

Damage to bridges

In floods, bridges can be damaged or worse, washed away. This obviously has a serious impact on our transport network. If the frequency and severity of flood events is likely to increase with climate change, the risk to bridges will also increase.

Rail adverse weather days

Watch this short video on how to use dashboards. Then use the dashboard below to explore the risk climate change poses to our rail network.

A short walkthrough of the dashboard

Use the maps to explore the risk in your area and the patterns across the UK through time.

  1. How does the risk change through time?
  2. Which part of the UK will see the greatest potential disruption?
  3. Look at the north of Scotland - why do you think its risk decreases between 2010 & 2040?

Keep scrolling to see the whole map.


Adapting to Climate Change

How can we adapt our railways to cope with the increased pressures of climate change? Network Rail look after the rail lines and have produced some really informative videos on heat and flooding:

How can we adapt our railways to cope with the increased pressures of climate change? Network Rail look after the rail lines and have produced some really informative videos on heat and flooding:

Heat

Delays Explained - Speed Restrictions

Many countries are hotter than the UK and they have railways. So what do they do and could we copy them? The list below describes the options we have and an indication of the costs involved (£= less expensive / £££ more expensive).

  • Heat resistant steel for the rail lines - you can make steel which is better at coping with high temperatures, but this is expensive. Replacing the whole of our rail network is not financially possible but this could be used in areas that we think will be most affected by heat. (£££)
  • Rails laid on concrete - our rails are commonly attached to wooden sleepers on top of stones (ballast). In areas where we know heat is an issue, some of our rails are attached to reinforced concrete slabs which are less prone to buckling. (£££)
  • Adjust rails for summer - some countries adjust their rails for summer and for winter to accommodate thermal expansion and contraction. (£££)
  • Paint the rail white - a simple solution could be to paint the lower section of the steel line white so it reflects more heat and absorbs less heat and are between 5 - 10°C cooler. (£)

Flooding

So we have found out that climate change will increase rainfall in winter resulting in more flooding and it will also cause an increase in intense rainfall events.

Delays Explained - Flooding

So what can Network Rail do to help reduce the impact of flooding on the railway lines?

  • Work with Environment Agency and SEPA to better protect the railways from flooding by building more defences.
  • Move critical infrastructure like power supplies and signal cables off the ground.
  • Install pumping stations to remove water from parts of the track that flood.

Land Slips & Subsidence

In addition to flooding, heavy rainfall can cause land slips & subsidence, when the ground slides onto the track or the ground under the rail line washed away. This can damage and close rail lines for extended periods of time and with rainfall potentially increasing in winter the risk of land slips & subsidence may increase.

Delays Explained: Landslips

To protect against land slips and subsidence is difficult, but Network Rail is using GPS technology to monitor areas that may be more likely to slip so they can fix problems before they become dangerous issues.


View more

Click below to see more examples of climate change impacts in the UK and what we can do to adapt to these changes.