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Why don't rails
get hot in Europe?

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The truth is, they do.

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But in countries typically
hotter than ours,

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rails are stressed to
withstand higher temperatures.

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The climate is changing
and this unprecedented weather is

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hotter than our infrastructure
was designed for.

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It's a challenge we and
hotter countries are all dealing with.

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Rails are pre-stressed to help
them resist the effects of high

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temperatures. In Britain,

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our rails have a
stress-free temperature of 27 degrees,

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halfway between the coldest and
hottest we expect our rails to

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get in the UK.

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We also tension our overhead
line equipment to cope with

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heat. When the air temperature
reaches 30 degrees Celsius, the

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temperature on the rail can
be up to 20 degrees higher.

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One of our hottest ever
recorded rail temperatures was

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62 degrees.

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If we stressed our
rails for exceptionally hot weather,

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they wouldn't be safe for
the winter and we'd have broken

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rails because it's too cold.

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That's why other
countries choose different temperature

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ranges depending
on their climate.

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More than three-quarters of
our track is on modern concrete

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sleepers, which can help rails
withstand very hot weather. But

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sometimes, steel rails get so hot
they expand and bend or break.

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When very hot
weather is forecast,

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we introduce emergency
speed restrictions.

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Slower trains mean less
pressure on the rail,

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which means the rail is
less likely to buckle -

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keeping you safe by
avoiding derailments.

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Speed restrictions also help
avoid damage from overhead line

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equipment that's
expanded and sagged.

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This doesn't happen in
much hotter countries, does it?

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Well, although it doesn't
often make big news over here,

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railways in countries with
very hot summers have the same

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issues we do.

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Their rails may be stressed
for higher temperatures,

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but that's because they
typically have long, very hot

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summers, while our summers tend to
be much less predictable. Even then,

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if they have hotter days
than their infrastructure is

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designed for, they have to
respond in the same way we do.

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That's why you may have
heard about rails in Spain,

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Italy and Switzerland being
painted white to keep the steel

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cool - and slower trains
to prevent buckling.

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At the end of the day,

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we and other European countries
are all dealing with the impact

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of climate change and our
priority is do everything we

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can to keep you safe.