When we think of weather delays on the railway, we usually picture heavy rain, snow or heatwaves.
But there’s also a lesser-known force we’re working to guard your journeys against – space weather. It’s all part of our wider plan to cover every type of eventuality, big and small.
What is space weather?
Space weather is caused by activity on the sun. It includes:
- solar flares – sudden bursts of energy from the sun’s surface, like solar explosions. These can disrupt radio signals and global positioning systems (GPS)
- coronal mass ejections – huge clouds of charged particles the sun throws into space. If one heads towards Earth, it can disturb our planet’s magnetic field
- solar energetic particles– high-speed particles that can damage satellites and affect high-altitude flights.
When these events reach Earth, they can trigger what’s called a geomagnetic storm, or a disturbance in the Earth’s magnetic field.
These storms are invisible to the naked eye but their effects can be far-reaching – and potentially disruptive to many types of modern infrastructure, including the railway. One way they’re visible is in the multi-coloured lights seen in the northern lights – known as the Aurora Borealis – which would become much more spectacular in this event.
What are we doing about it?
We’re already working with scientists and engineers to understand how space weather could affect the railway – especially on electrified lines like the West Coast Main Line.
We’re also exploring how space weather forecasts – similar to regular weather forecasts – could help us plan ahead.
Plus, we’re planning for a wide range of potential scenarios in tandem with other key stakeholders like utility companies, local councils, telecoms providers, the NHS, Environment Agency, Met Office and the emergency services. We’re forming plans that will enhance overall resilience and help keep you safe in such events.
For instance, if a major solar storm is expected, we may take steps like:
- slow trains down or bring them to a controlled and safe stop
- increase monitoring of signalling systems
- temporarily stop services while the situation is assessed and checked to be safe.
And, all the safety-critical parts of our railway like signals, level crossings and other equipment are designed to fail-safe. This means they will fail in a way that helps keep everyone safe should they be affected. For example, a signal will fail at red to prevent trains passing through into potentially unsafe situations.
The possibility of space weather events that could seriously affect our railway in any significantly disruptive way is considered to be relatively low. But we’re determined to future-proof our railway and so are preparing for it just like any other extreme weather events – so you can travel with confidence.
