Tomorrow's Railway and Climate Change Adaptation Final Report

how to manage disrupted services. However, there was a lack of comprehensive,
consistent and robust information and this is considered a gap in knowledge which
should be addressed.
High winds can blow debris and third party objects from outside the railway on to the
track causing traffic operation and management problems. This tends to result in
performance problems and it is recommended that more information about the
performance impacts should be obtained.
The stakeholder workshops identified the need for accurate early warning systems
linked to known flooding ‘hot spots’ (or ‘wet spots’) to inform operations.
3.4.5 Recommendations for action – operations
Table 4:
Recommendations for action – operations
Timescale
Short term (to
action or
implement before
end of CP5: 2014-
2019)
Recommendations
1. Undertake research to identify and develop ways to improve the cascade of
communication from a given meteorological forecast provider to Network
Rail and then on to TOCs and passengers. This applies before and during
hot weather, snow, rain, wind and storm surge events (high temperatures,
low temperatures, high precipitation, high winds, high sea levels and storm
surges).
2. Increase knowledge about how to improve the resilience of service planning
and operations. This includes identifying critical locations, key staff and
passenger access routes to stations and depots, as well as co-ordinating
with third parties and identifying clear responsibilities between staff (high
temperatures, low temperatures, high precipitation, high winds, high sea
levels and storm surges).
3. Identify whether there are any training exercises or drills that can be carried
out to help staff prepare for adverse and extreme weather events (all
climate variables).
Medium term
N/A
(to action or
implement in next
5-15 years: CP6
and beyond)
Long term
N/A
(to action or
implement in next
15-25 years)
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