To maintain a resilient railway, we need a detailed understanding of how our railway may be impacted by weather, and the potential impact from climate change.
The railway network, over recent years, has been significantly affected by climate change and extreme weather conditions.
Climate change projections suggest we are entering a period of increasing average and maximum daily temperatures, drier summers, wetter winters, higher sea levels and more storms. This will increase the risk of weather-related events such as floods, landslips, coastal storm surges, track buckles and obstructions on the track. While snow and cold weather will be less frequent, they will still freeze points and block routes.
Many of the risks associated with climate change relate to the rail infrastructure which is managed by Network Rail.
Network Rail have produced a Weather Resilience and Climate Change Adaptation Plan for Scotland detailing the investment in their infrastructure planned in CP6 (2019-2024).
It is important that we understand the risks from climate change and extreme weather events in order to build resilience into our processes, procedures and activities.
To do this we have produced a Climate Change Adaptation Plan which sets out our objectives. This Climate Change Adaptation Plan outlines the current and future actions that we need to undertake to manage the impacts of climate change.
Read our Climate Change Adaptation Plan
Progress against the plan is tracked through a number of meetings with internal and external stakeholders. Monthly Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) meetings are attended by the ScotRail Directorate, Network Rail and Transport Scotland progress meetings are held.
What you can do
Check before you travel to keep up to date with the latest service information, especially during adverse weather conditions. The easiest way to do this is by using Journey Planner or the ScotRail app.
If you would like to find out more information about our activity on Climate Change, please contact [email protected] .