Tomorrow's Railway and Climate Change Adaptation Final Report

information would be a good starting point for managing lightning, although this would
only address the hazard. The Met Office’s Hazard Manager product includes a layer
which shows recent lightning observations. Other approaches may include improved
procedures for locating and addressing lightning related failures.
Excess rainfall and localised flooding causes serious problems to the GB railway network,
and winter rainfall in particular is projected to increase in years to come. Therefore we
need to be able to assess the observed and projected impacts now and in the future.
These are gaps that could be addressed through increased use of telemetry and remote
monitoring at identified vulnerable asset locations, together with agreed protocols for
the consistent capture of rainfall and flood extent data post-event.
High winds tend to cause system-wide impacts, for example widespread line closures.
The lack of information on the impacts of high wind speeds should be addressed
together with the same tools as for rainfall highlighted above.
A similar process could be adopted for any climate change projections which are less
certain, in order to identify vulnerable asset types and locations. For new infrastructure,
this might involve checking potential effects and impacts. For existing infrastructure, this
might involve a system-wide strategic review of condition and exposure. Once
identified, enhanced design, monitoring or other mitigation measures can make
vulnerable assets more resilient.
3.1.5 Recommendations for action – whole system
Due to the large number of recommendations relating to the whole system, a maximum
of three recommendations for each timescale, short, medium and long term, are
included in Table 1, with wider recommendations included in Phase 1 Appendix J.
Table 1:
Recommendations for action – whole system
Timescale
Short term
(to action/
implement
before end
of CP5 i.e.
2014-2019)
Recommendations
1. Compile a database of assets, including buildings that are vulnerable to one or
more of the following: excess rainfall; drought; fluvial flooding and/ or coastal
flooding. This would be equivalent to the CRT register for stress free
temperatures (SFT). Assess vulnerabilities of assets including interdependencies
and ‘knock on effects’ (high precipitation, low precipitation, high sea levels and
storm surges).
2. Ensure that there is better recording of, and attribution to, weather conditions
alongside incident reports where relevant (all climate variables). This would
include the following:
• Capture and assess delay minutes associated specifically with rainfall-related
incidents and failures (high precipitation)
• Identify any regional variations in the exposure of assets to rainfall-related risks
(high precipitation)
10