That is because there isn’t enough data available to see regional variations with enough certainty. Currently, rail operators have to indiscriminately roll out blanket speed restrictions. Insight from digital twinsĭigital twins can help provide the insights that inform how the rail infrastructure responds in extreme weather conditions. For train operators looking to minimise disruptions caused by high temperatures or even floods, the answer could be in the way they use data. It is a two-pronged attack, where businesses improve the way they respond to extreme weather whilst also making their buildings more efficient to reduce the risk of these events happening in the first place. With that in mind, it is vital that the transportation industry, and other industries with a large number of buildings and physical assets, seek to tackle both the symptoms and cause of climate change. Met Office scientists predict that temperatures could exceed 40☌ every three years by the end of the century if we don’t reduce our emissions. Train operators advised passengers not to travel in the extreme heat which caused rails to buckle and overhead wire systems to fail.Īlthough most people felt that the high temperatures were a unique occurrence that can be disregarded now that temperatures have returned to normal, we should expect a repeat. In the UK, recent record high temperatures exceeding 40☌ meant major disruption, particularly to travel networks.