Question 1 – 24 Jul 2023: Infrastructure failures

[whole diary]

[Red Squirrel]

There seem to be an increasing number of infrastructure failures ranging from a 3 month closure between Oxford and Didcot and a three hour closure because of a line blocked by a tree at Lavington. And we are finding trains disrupted by speed restriction in hot weather and lines closed by flooding. What are you doing to ensure a reliable infrastructure for the future, or must we learn to live with more disruption caused by our changing environment?

[Mark Hopwood]

I agree and there are a number of things we are doing with Network Rail about this.

The question specifically asks about climate change and The UK^▸ (United Kingdom) Climate Change Projections 2018 (UKCP18) indicate that the shift to a warmer climate, significant changes in sea level and an increase in intensity of rainfall across the year will continue. In addition to this the frequency and intensity of adverse and extreme weather events are expected to increase causing additional stress to our infrastructure and train fleets.

The impact of a changing climate and increases in extreme weather are very much a challenge that the railway is taking seriously. Here at GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) we are working with our industry partners in Network Rail (NR^» (Network Rail - home page)) to ensure that we have robust, safe and resilient infrastructure. Good resilience work has already been undertaken by NR including:
-   Large scale flood resilience projects including improved drainage and a hardening of flood prevention measures
-   Additional maintenance to improve the heat resilience of track and Overhead Line Equipment.
-   Training and equipment provision for maintenance teams,
-   Increased use of suitable technology including Remote Condition Monitoring (RCM) in earthworks and track monitoring, and
-   Strengthening of relationships with the Environment Agency and other 3rd party bodies.

NR Recognises that this is just the start of the work that is required to ensure our network is more resilient to the impacts of adverse and extreme weather and that further work is required to ensure we mitigate the impact into the future. Their submissions for the next control period (2024-2029) reflect that requirement with £1.6bn across the NRs infrastructure in England and Wales. The funds will go towards the creation of dedicated earthworks and drainage teams, operational weather expertise, and a climate change adaptation strategy.

We also continue to ensure our train fleet is resilient to environmental changes including work engine performance on the directly maintained and Class 800 fleets as well as looking at what can be done to improve passenger saloon cooling reliability on our local fleet. 

[Mark Hopwood]

I would also add that we are working with Network Rail to ensure that speed restrictions due to hot weather are minimised and a lot of work has been done to raise the "Critical Rail Temperature" - CRT^‡(resolve) - at which speed restrictions are applied.

The key risks come from recently installed track, wooden sleepers and inadequate ballast shoulders and these have been prioritised.#

[Mark Hopwood]

I would also add (again!) that we have a weekly review of this position every Monday with Network Rail and this is used as an opportunity to add extra work in to remove or prevenet such speed restrictions.

[grahame]

In recent travels, I'm noticing that trains are scraping trees a lot more than I can remember - is foliage growing quicker these days and requiring more trimming back (and can that be done without a possession). Noticable to look back at pictures of steam days and see bare cutting sides which are now tree-laden - I think of Tunnel Junction, Salisbury ...

[Red Squirrel]

Yes I'd noticed that too. I wonder if this wet July has led to growth of lineside vegetation being more rapid than usual?

[Mark Hopwood]

I have to agree with regards to lineside vegetation - I have my own photographs of Class 50s from the 1980s with much less vegetation on the lineside.

Equally, we had much more contaminants on the line back then and BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) was allowed to use weedkillers that were close to radioactive (exaggerating for effect ...!) and today the environmental issues have had an impact.