How can Germany's railways become more climate resilient?
Even though trains are the safest and most sustainable mode of transportation, they are vulnerable to extreme weather. What lessons can be learned from the recent train derailment in southern Germany?
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However, this year's early summer was marked less by rain than by periods of heat and drought in large parts of Germany. The resulting forest fires and fires along the railroad infrastructure forced connections to be cancelled or rerouted.
To mitigate this, railway teams regularly trim vegetation in a six-meter-wide corridor along the tracks.
UNDRR’s Resilient Infrastructure Stress Test helps governments identify vulnerabilities. The tool analyses direct and indirect impacts of hazards on infrastructure assets and identifies interdependencies between systems.
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According to Deutsche Bahn, temperatures of up to 60 degrees Celsius (140 Fahrenheit) pose no problem for the rails themselves. Only flexible parts such as switches must be cooled and as part of the "Climate-Resilient Railway Technology" program, components in signalling technology are also to be made more resistant to the increasing periods of heat.
Heat is also a problem for the train and its passengers. Engines can overheat, and air conditioning systems can be pushed to their limits.
The latest generation of ICE 4 express trains has two independent air conditioning systems in each car to keep the passenger compartment climate-controlled. They are designed to work just as well in outside temperatures of -25 degrees as they do on hot days of +45 degrees.
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