Samuel Jones
Environment Specialist, RSSB
A section of Norfolk’s Fen Line was recently forced to close after hot and dry weather caused the peat-rich soil to shrink, destabilising the track.
Immediate speed restrictions, engineering work, and bus replacement services had to be scrambled by Network Rail to support passengers and reopen the line as soon as possible.
While this was caused by not enough water, the opposite—too much water—is also a threat to the industry.
Extreme weather risk
According to the Climate Change Committee (CCC), over a third of railway and road kilometres are currently at flood risk. And it is only going to get worse.
The CCC says in its 2025 Progress in adapting to climate change report to Parliament: ‘There is now unequivocal evidence that climate change is making extreme weather in the UK such as heatwaves, heavy rainfall, and wildfire-conducive conditions more likely and more extreme.’
The result is network disruption, reallocation of resources and extra cost. There’s a social cost, too. Rail is at the heart of our communities, but missed connections and cancelled trains disrupt lives and can erode public trust in our institution.
We can’t stop this extreme weather or entirely prevent incidents like the Fen Line closure. But what we can influence is how informed, prepared and adaptive we are as a united industry. Anticipation is the key. And it can only come from detailed and extensive data.
The RSSB’s Climate Change Adaptation Working Group (CCAWG) is tasked with overseeing and supporting the industry’s activities in this crucial area.
Adaptation metrics for rail
To help our industry meet the challenge of climate change head-on, we developed a set of adaptation metrics against which rail companies can gather and share data, providing a single framework to quantify climate risks, measure adaptation effectiveness, and benchmark progress.
Overseen by the CCAWG, we recently reviewed the current performance and applications of adaptation and resilience that inform the metrics to gather feedback based on practical experience.
More than 20 rail organisations were involved, and the assessment was supported by a literature review, stakeholder interviews, and workshops that looked at each of the strategic areas covered by the Sustainable Rail Blueprint.
Graham Mollison, Southeastern’s Head of Sustainability, is vice-chair of CCAWG and has more than 30 years’ expertise in driving measurable environmental improvement.
Graham says: ‘More frequent, intense, and unpredictable weather events are already affecting transport networks across the UK. The CCAWG is a rapidly growing community of practical knowledge in rail, helping to guide resilience across track and train. This is supported by the metrics, which will help organisations understand their strengths and areas where more work will be beneficial.’
Advantages of comprehensive data
Measuring and allocating resources is essential for responding to incidents. With a quantified and accurate picture of where the major climate risk areas are, we can prioritise action from a network-wide systems perspective. More comprehensive data can reveal vulnerabilities that could be hidden or underestimated in isolation. Being able to prioritise intervention and investment based on data-led decisions will improve the national resilience of the network.
The CCAWG’s review revealed substantial challenges within and between organisations in accessing some of the relevant data. Some organisations like Network Rail and Transport for London are already advanced with their climate change adaptation metrics, whereas newer or smaller organisations may not have the same capabilities yet.
To help us align as an industry, our updated framework will use a combination of basic and progressive metrics. Basic metrics will consolidate existing performance, and progressive metrics allow for the necessary additional organisational capabilities to build.
Graham added: ‘What matters most to our customers, whether passengers or freight operators, is a railway they can rely on. They want it to be punctual, dependable, easy to use, and able to recover quickly when things go wrong. But climate change is making this harder. I encourage organisations to join us on our collaborative journey to a more climate-resilient railway.’