Are the railways prepared for massive solar events?

[whole diary]

[Phil]

According to the government's global warming advice unit (sometimes otherwise known as the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)), it's all academic anyway as the rising tides will get us first:

More Dawlish rail line disruption predicted due to climate change

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-35146033

[TonyK]

I have an open fire, a wind-up torch, a barbecue, and a well at my Devon home, which is over 500 feet above sea level. Don't worry about me.

[Bmblbzzz]

Vital facilities such as hospitals should be OK in the short term as they are equipped with diesel generators. In the longer term it depends on the reliability of the generators and on a continual supply of diesel fuel which is likely to be problematic.

This raises the possibility of India becoming the world's most "developed" country, as not only every hospital, but every office, shop and many private homes there have their own generators. In fact, in India we'd now be discussing the merits of inline vs online DGs!

[onthecushions]

My understanding is that the more important public (and private) buildings and sites all have emegency diesel driven alternators, sometimes as an UPS. They have both general and protected circuits separately wired. They have been required to do risk assessments for years, resulting in this provision. That's why I could never understand modern railway signalling centres  going down through "power failures".

Presumably the immunisation of S&T^▸ (Signalling and Telegraph) cables from nearby 25kV lines should also help with any other pulses, whether from the sun or the bomb.

The more immediate risk seems to me to be in low lying assets such as waterside substations (e.g. South Reading or Gloucester). Though Elysian in Summer, they could cause great grief in the wet through the simple lack of  c2m concrete plinths for sensitive plant. Another accountancy triumph.

OTC

[broadgage]

Yes, most important facilities do have diesel generators and often a UPS also, presuming that such equipment actually works as intended then all should be well in the short term.
Grid power might be out for months though and I have little faith in generators working for that time, and even if the generator does work, obtaining sufficient diesel fuel could be a serious problem.

One might expect that vital signalling control equipment would have back up power supplies, yet major disruptions have resulted from entirely foreseeable local power failures.

[SandTEngineer]

Whenever there is solar activity over Cornwall the mechanical signalbox indicators and bells (which consist of magnetic induced needles) go absolutely haywire.  The signallers used to get very confused and started to panic when the block bells started to ring by themselves and 'line clear' got pegged on the block instruments without them touching them..........

[JayMac]

Could that lead to right side failures in a mechanical signalbox?

[TonyK]

Let's face it, anything that causes widespread disruption to the national grid is going to cause widespread disruption to the national everything else.

Diesel will run out quickly. The government has placed contracts for diesel generators to back up renewable energy sources, and they will probably have first dibs. We saw when there were blockades of refineries how small the stocks of fuel are in this country. (I had a LPG^▸ (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) powered car then, so was smugly exempt from the ensuing chaos). A tanker discharges crude at the refinery, and within a fortnight it is in someone's tank - it is often fresher than your milk. As well as the limited stored supplies, and the long periods of time needed to get additional supplies from the oil fields of the middle east etc, there is the problem of ordering. There is no current method of telling the supplier that you need fuel that does not rely upon electricity somewhere along the chain. The refinery itself needs electricity to function, although some produce their own. Fuel on railways will be reserved for essential goods transport first, then passengers.

Hospitals will have an obvious priority. I understand that the Bristol Royal Infirmary has a bank of batteries to take the slack for the few seconds it takes for the back-up generators to kick in. Private vehicles will be at the bottom of the heap. Railways will have a higher priority, but not a very high one so far as pax are concerned. What is the point of travelling to your very important job in the City if you can't do it when you get there?

London will be shining bright very quickly. Cornwall less so. I'll be fine as, although I am a bit rusty, I was once reasonably good at bush-tucker, can shoot reasonably well, and know people with shotguns. The wild garlic and wild strawberry seasons re particularly exciting to me. (Other things excite me also, my business not yours. Wholesome and, so far as I am aware, legal).

Truth is, if it happens we will find out how we cope with it. If we do, which I reckon I will if nobody else does, we will learn how to deal with the next event. Even if I can't post in the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Coffee Shop until the fan has been cleaned.

[grahame]

Even if I can't post in the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Coffee Shop until the fan has been cleaned.

We have a server in London, a backup in Karlsrhure and a third system we call fall back on in Fremont.   I figure if all three of those are out, people won't want our IT training nor be travelling very much by train.

Of course, there may be areas where it's kinda-hard to connect in from, and we haven't actually run any practical fail-ver tests 

[broadgage]

Yes, any severe solar storm would have a most serious effect not just on railways but on modern life in general.
A general long term lack of mains electricity would result in shortages of food, fuel, water and other supplies and cause a substantial loss of life.

I would suggest that everyone should consider keeping a reserve of food, fuel, drinking water and other supplies in case of any emergency. A severe solar storm is not IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion) a likely disaster, but consider also the risks of extreme weather, industrial disputes, riots or protests, or war in oil producing areas.

[SandTEngineer]

Could that lead to right side failures in a mechanical signalbox?

Yes. And it was quite fun () being on call at the time...........

...and for those who don't know a 'Right Side Failure' is one that goes to the safe side and the signalling equipment becomes locked rather than free.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Of course, there may be areas where it's kinda-hard to connect in from, and we haven't actually run any practical fail-ver tests 

Portishead.