How Britain’s railways are struggling in the heat – and can they be fixed?

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The derailment near Lewes, East Sussex, earlier this month. Photograph: RAIB/PA View image in fullscreen The derailment near Lewes, East Sussex, earlier this month. Photograph: RAIB/PA Rail industry Explainer How Britain’s railways are struggling in the heat – and can they be fixed? Problems including derailments have hit network during one of the hottest and driest summers on record

Prefer the Guardian on Google Britain’s railways have faced a string of heat-related problems this summer, including a derailment near Lewes in East Sussex two weeks ago that injured 30 people, and another the next day when the rear carriages of a Greater Anglia train derailed “in an upright position” at Wickford railway station in Essex , with no reported injuries.

The problems came during one of the hottest and driest summers on record, with a series of heatwaves, and drought declared across large parts of England and Wales. Britain’s railways, built for a cooler, wetter climate, have been put under pressure. Network Rail said the summer had “presented exceptional challenges to the railway”.

Here’s what we know about how heat affects the rail network and what can be done to tackle it.

Steel expands when it gets hot, and the long, welded steel sections that make up modern railway tracks are no exception. “The classic concern for railways with hot weather is that the track might buckle,” said William Powrie, a professor of geotechnical engineering at the University of Southampton.