Renfe train’s brush with wild fire raises eyebrows
A Renfe medium-distance train got caught in a forest fire near Bejís in the Spanish province of Castellón earlier on Wednesday, resulting in a panic among passengers and at least 20 injuries.Read more
London on red alert for a flash flooded Underground
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has warned Londoners to expect the worst if this week’s weather forecast is accurate. The South East of England is on alert for severe thunderstorms and heavy rain, after...Read more
Are railways prepared for more frequent heat waves?
Heatwaves with record-breaking temperatures made their impact on European railways in June and July this year, and it probably won’t be the last time. Are railways ready to cope with increasingly hot temperatures, and what...Read more
Does the rail sector need a maximum temperature for outside work?
European labour unions have called upon the European Commission to introduce a maximum temperature for outside work, which would include trackside work. RailTech’s Dutch sister publication SpoorPro spoke to local unions and contractors to see...Read more
Network Rail sets up hot weather resilience taskforce after heatwave’s wake-up call
Following this week’s unprecedented heatwave, Network Rail is gearing up its efforts to make the UK network more resilient by launching a special taskforce for hot weather. “We’ve got to pull out all the stops...Read more
Britain faces decades of climate disruption says minister in the hot seat
This week’s heatwave has put pressure on UK infrastructure like never before. The unprecedented closure of the East Coast Main Line, in the face of temperatures more akin to Spain than Stevenage, was the headline...Read more
More political will, industry awareness and coordination required for climate adaptation
While the railway companies, operators, infrastructure managers and stakeholders are doing their part in combatting climate change and adapting to extreme weather, the combined effort falls short of what is required. Furthermore, the level of...Read more
Adif constructing new breakwater to protect coastal railway
Adif has begun work on the construction of a new breakwater along the Barcelona-Mataró-Maçanet-Massanes line, the famous coastal railway that is at increased risk of extreme weather conditions brought on climate change.Read more
Adif to reinforce embankments along Madrid-Hendaya line
Adif will be reinforcing the embankments along the Altsasu-Irun section of the Madrid-Hendaya line in the coming months. This should reduce the likelihood of landslides and prevent rocks from landing on the tracks.Read more
The lessons Infrabel learned from the flood: ‘We had never expected the rail embankments to become so unstable’
“The flooding of last year was the worst disaster we ever experienced on the Belgian railways”, said civil engineer at Infrabel Bart Kamoen at the RailTech webinar on Climate Change Adaptation. How did Infrabel deal...Read more
Network Rail outlines risks of climate change in new adaptation report
British rail infrastructure manager Network Rail published its third Adaptation Report focusing on tackling climate change risks to rail. This reports on the progress and future challenges for the UK rail network.Read more
Scotland’s Railway chief: decarbonise rail to honour Stonehaven crash victims
Scotland’s Railway managing director Alex Hynes calls on the transport sector to reduce emissions in memory of the victims of the Stonehaven rail crash last year, where climate change played a role. Scotland had been...Read more
Network Rail finishes landslip prevention project in Hastings
Over a hundred engineers have carried out landslip prevention work along the 160-year old Hastings route in the UK. This in order to prepare the route for more extreme weather as the result of climate...Read more