Even more widespread disruption across the UK rail network - what can be done?

[Tracked]

Was on 333005 out of Doncaster yesterday at 13:26, or 13:30 by the time it left ...

A noticably very much slower departure from the platform than usual, followed by it coming to a halt just after leaving the platform. Power then went out and we were sat for about 15 minutes with no air con before it started again (I'm guessing a switch off/switch back on), thought it might go back into the platform but it carried on til Leeds. Looks like it then got sent back to Doncaster but failed at Bentley, rather than be taken out of service ...

Don-LDS and SHF-AWK (or at least DON-AWK) services more or less stopped for the day at 16:00, one managed to make the journey around 18:00 and then nothing much till around 21:00 when a few SHF-AWK trains resumed, the last DON-LDS train in the day was the 14:26, and then nothing till 23:36 (which is usually a SHF-AWK before then, generally 150's).

I think that's worse than the time in 2021 where I went on a pub crawl round Mexborough (and Wath), and the train I got back several hours later was literally the first one that'd stopped there since I'd arrived in the morning.

[edit] On checking, it was March 2022; I arrived there from Doncaster at 10:46, a train was pulling out the other way just before I got there but the next one due back towards Doncaster at that point was 13:32 (as the 12:32 was cancelled). I got the 18:32 back, and it was the first train back to Doncaster since arriving. Services had been reduced due to Covid, and it was still at the 1-2 hours between services stage at that point, rather than 1-2 per hour it was before Covid.

 

[Haywain]

22nd-23rd was nearly a "tropical night" (18.9C lowest temperature).

I heard on the radio earlier that last night's temperature didn't drop below 20°C.

 

[AndrewE]

I'm led to believe that many of the unit issues have been due to radiator fans getting clogged with pollen. Thus causing problems / failures.

It could be suggested that the rail industry doesn't procure units that are able to cope with such differing temperature conditions.

I think it is more likely to be seeds carried by the wind, rather than pollen. Round here we have black poplar trees which release little tufts like cotton wool by the million, and of course dandelion "parachutes" drift for miles too. Also more likely to be the heat exchanger matrix getting clogged, rather than the fans...

 

[Harpo]

So probably a big difference is the UK still using lots of unreliable diesels and not much more reliable electric trains.

Electric trains still need cooling. I well remember a spell of class 86 failures that we traced back to crappy work at Springburn where radiator elements (cooling transformer oil) weren’t cleaned on major exams. It’s not unique to diesels.

 

[mike57]

I heard on the radio earlier that last night's temperature didn't drop below 20°C.

According to https://www.netweather.tv/weather-f...kew-smashes-previous-uk-record-by-two-degrees

I quote "with a Tropical Night for Kenley, when overnight temperatures stay at 20C or above. The minimum was 21.3C Monday into Tuesday 26th. This is the first time we have recorded a Tropical Night in a spring month in the UK."

 

[Merle Haggard]

The reasons for high failure rates on rail - exceptionally high temperatures increasing unreliability and high amounts of pollen blocking radiators - would also, I think, apply to roads.
I really don't know but has the same period been associated with an increase in bus unreliability, more HGVs breaking down (a larger number of them visible on the hard shoulder of motorways, for instance) or car breakdowns?
Of course some of the rail reasons are infrastructure which is possibly more temperature sensitive than road surfaces but I do recall the newly-tarred surface of the M1 melting in hot sun around Watford Gap one summer years ago.

 

[Snow1964]

I heard on the radio earlier that last night's temperature didn't drop below 20°C.

Quite localised apparently, SE London and Kent borders.

Of course some radio commentators get all excitable, and be selective with facts. Made it sound like everywhere

There are Amber and yellow heat alerts, and no alerts in the north, but no red alerts, so not exceptional.

 

[Harpo]

There are Amber and yellow heat alerts, and no alerts in the north, but no red alerts, so not exceptional.

It’s very exceptional but, in its timing rather than temperatures.

Next week we will return to night times of around 10c giving a diurnal range over just a few days well in excess of 20c when we’d expect 7-9c. That’s a phenomenal range to prepare railway assets for.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I think it is more likely to be seeds carried by the wind, rather than pollen. Round here we have black poplar trees which release little tufts like cotton wool by the million, and of course dandelion "parachutes" drift for miles too. Also more likely to be the heat exchanger matrix getting clogged, rather than the fans...

Full agreement here; pollen is millions of tiny small particles blowing around and comes from the actual flowering parts, such as blossom on trees.

The stuff in big lightweight tangles of material is seeds being carried by the wind - the seeds, which are themselves very tiny specks in that tangle of material, are the result of the weeks earlier actions of pollen and have nothing to do with pollen at all. It is these which block things up.

This is a very basic difference that the public relations departments need to learn.

 

[6Gman]

175s used to have problems (may still do but off my patch now) with seed tangles blocking things up. I often wondered if the relevant entry points could be "hoovered" (for want of a better term) at turnround points - but the logistics would, I think, be challenging!

 

[Bald Rick]

There is something known as preventative maintenance.

It is a pretty poor policy waiting for a disruptive breakdown as the cue to fix or repair something that is known to be deteriorating to the point where a day of warmer than average weather kills it off.

Indeed, and I am not suggesting that the teams responsible are waiting for things to break before fixing them. There are millions of assets out there, a tiny, tiny proportion of which break each day. But the number that break on a hot day (not just ‘warmer than average) is more than on a day of noral temperatures.

So probably a big difference is the UK still using lots of unreliable diesels and not much more reliable electric trains.

Not really.

 

[Iskra]

Was on 333005 out of Doncaster yesterday at 13:26, or 13:30 by the time it left ...

A noticably very much slower departure from the platform than usual, followed by it coming to a halt just after leaving the platform. Power then went out and we were sat for about 15 minutes with no air con before it started again (I'm guessing a switch off/switch back on), thought it might go back into the platform but it carried on til Leeds. Looks like it then got sent back to Doncaster but failed at Bentley, rather than be taken out of service ...

Don-LDS and SHF-AWK (or at least DON-AWK) services more or less stopped for the day at 16:00, one managed to make the journey around 18:00 and then nothing much till around 21:00 when a few SHF-AWK trains resumed, the last DON-LDS train in the day was the 14:26, and then nothing till 23:36 (which is usually a SHF-AWK before then, generally 150's).

I think that's worse than the time in 2021 where I went on a pub crawl round Mexborough (and Wath), and the train I got back several hours later was literally the first one that'd stopped there since I'd arrived in the morning.

[edit] On checking, it was March 2022; I arrived there from Doncaster at 10:46, a train was pulling out the other way just before I got there but the next one due back towards Doncaster at that point was 13:32 (as the 12:32 was cancelled). I got the 18:32 back, and it was the first train back to Doncaster since arriving. Services had been reduced due to Covid, and it was still at the 1-2 hours between services stage at that point, rather than 1-2 per hour it was before Covid.

A second 333 broke down at Fitzwilliam and I think they implemented single line working. Absolute carnage on that line yesterday. My usual train to work was cancelled but fortunately the Sheffield stoppers functioned okay, so I took one of those instead. The train in question was a 150, with no AC and it was very toasty onboard!

 

[bramling]

Today has probably been one of the worst days across the EMR network in a very long time.

Multiple cancellations and delays of up to three hours due to various train faults, on both the EMR Regional and InterCity routes.

The UK rail network just can’t cope with this extreme heat, to put it bluntly.

It isn’t just the heat but the variation in temperature. Just a couple of weeks ago I was getting low temperature warnings on the car when driving around in the early morning.

It probably also doesn’t help that this hot spell seems to have been a little under-predicted. What has actually transpired is more significant than a “oooh isn’t it nice, let’s head to the beach” type event.

 

[mmh]

Mainly, it's a failure of the UK to properly understand the impacts of climate change on our weather, and the extremes that it brings.

It's a shame Real Time Trains doesn't go back to 1976.

 

[High Dyke]

Electric trains still need cooling. I well remember a spell of class 86 failures that we traced back to crappy work at Springburn where radiator elements (cooling transformer oil) weren’t cleaned on major exams. It’s not unique to diesels.

And there was the 'wrong type of snow' failures of class 91's.

 

[Bald Rick]

It isn’t just the heat but the variation in temperature. Just a couple of weeks ago I was getting low temperature warnings on the car when driving around in the early morning.

4 weeks ago there was ice on my road!

 

[Meole]

Unfortunately we have the worst weather variations in the world so no operator can cover the extremes we suffer.

 

[AndrewE]

Unfortunately we have the worst weather variations in the world so no operator can cover the extremes we suffer.

not quite... deserts often range from +30 or 40 during the day to below zero in the night. School geography told us it was so extreme that it resulted in "onion skin exfoliation." https://fiveable.me/introduction-ge...ction-geology/key-terms/onion-skin-weathering says it is still taught!

 

[MatthewHutton]

Unfortunately we have the worst weather variations in the world so no operator can cover the extremes we suffer.

The United States, Canada, Russia, parts of China, Morocco all say hi.

 

[Iskra]

Unfortunately we have the worst weather variations in the world so no operator can cover the extremes we suffer.

Totally untrue.

 

[mike57]

It's a shame Real Time Trains doesn't go back to 1976.

As I pointed out further up the thread the highest recorded temperature in 1976 was 35.9C. The temperatures in this recent heatwave have got within a degree of that temperature (35.1C at Kew yesterday). Although everyone who was around remembers it as 'a long hot summer' the reality is that post 2000 35.9C has been exceeded on 15 days since 2000, with prior to 1976 this temperature being exceeded only in 1911 and 1932.

Looking at temperature data the worst heatwave days are roughly 4C higher than they were say 50 years ago. This seems to be part of the general trend to more severe weather.

In terms of design parameters for new equipment and infrastructure I dont know what figures the railways use as a maximum shade temperature, in other industries 40C was typical when I started in engineering, but this threshold has now been exceeded, and certainly for England 45C would seem to more appropriate as I personally think given the warming trend the current 40.3C record will be broken in the next few years.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

And there was the 'wrong type of snow' failures of class 91's.

I thought that was 317s?

Totally untrue.

Try North Dakota USA!

Unfortunately we have the worst weather variations in the world so no operator can cover the extremes we suffer.

 

[Iskra]

Try North Dakota USA!

I once visited Denver, USA and correspondingly put it on my weather app. It’s stayed on there ever since purely out of my amusement and amazement at the wild variations. (Although this week it’s looking fairly normal, but spring/autumn it’s very varied)

 

[Magdalia]

It isn’t just the heat but the variation in temperature. Just a couple of weeks ago I was getting low temperature warnings on the car when driving around in the early morning.

And I was having to cover plants at night to protect them from frost only 2 weeks ago.

It probably also doesn’t help that this hot spell seems to have been a little under-predicted.

This is a consistent feature of recent heatwaves here in the Fens. Since 2024 I have been keeping a spreadsheet of forecast maximum temperatures each summer. In 2024 and 2025 I started the spreadsheet in early June, this year I started it on 20 May, and ought to have started 4 or 5 days earlier. On 20 May BBC were forecasting 29C on Monday 25th and 28C on Tuesday 26th, for both the outturn was 33C.

An extreme example from last year was 21 June, which was forecast to be 21C on 9 June but the actual was 32C.

 

[Haywain]

As I pointed out further up the thread the highest recorded temperature in 1976 was 35.9C. The temperatures in this recent heatwave have got within a degree of that temperature (35.1C at Kew yesterday).

In 1976, that was at the height of summer. We're still in spring now.

 

[AndrewE]

After reading https://britbrief.co.uk/business/transport/gsm-r-failure-causes-major-rail-delays-explained.html

Hundreds of thousands of rail travellers experienced delays of an hour or more after the system that enables train drivers to communicate with signallers failed. The system in question is the Global System for Mobile Communications-Railway, commonly known as GSM-R. Network Rail describes it as a digital, secure, and dependable communications platform between drivers and signallers.

I was interested to see https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...cy-gchq-head-anne-keast-butler?CMP=GTUK_email (Russia is targeting UK’s infrastructure and democracy")

Britain has to deal with four major cybersecurity incidents a week, with China, Russia and Iran behind most the serious attacks, according to figures issued last month by Richard Horne, the chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre, an arm of Cheltenham-based GCHQ.
The scale of hostile activity online has led other spy chiefs, including the newly appointed head of the foreign intelligence agency, MI6, Blaise Metreweli, to warn that the UK is caught in “a space between peace and war”. Information and technology were becoming increasingly weaponised by Russia and others, she said in December.

Britain faces a “moment of consequence” where it is seeing increasingly brazen behaviour from adversaries,

 

[Harpo]

In 1976, that was at the height of summer. We're still in spring now.

Precisely. This will be why not all assets will have had full summer prep. Personally I salute maintenance teams for the kit that has carried on going this week.

 

[Magdalia]

In 1976, that was at the height of summer. We're still in spring now.

In 1976 the heatwave did start early, but not as early as 2026. In Cambridge the average daytime maximum for June 1976 was 24.5C, and I remember doing school exams in sweltering conditions.

 

[High Dyke]

I thought that was 317s?

They may have also been affected. I was thinking back to the BBC documentary from 1991. All the Class 91 fleet was taken out of service and you saw diesel hauled Mk4 stock with the driver wearing a bin bag to reduce the draught.

link to YouTube. BBC Inside Story documentary.

 

[stevieinselby]

It could be suggested that the rail industry doesn't procure units that are able to cope with such differing temperature conditions.

The problem with that line of attack is that the conditions that trains and infrastructure are required to operate in are getting wider and more varied. Heatwaves that were considered exceptionally rare in recent memory are now happening regularly. Rainfall is either on or it's off, we get downpours and deluges followed by droughts leading to deteriorating and destabilised ground conditions.

Not only does this wider range of climate conditions mean it is harder to specify new kit that is suitable for all occasions, but the rapid change in what we have to consider normal means that anything that was specified more than 20 years ago to cope with 99% is now only able to cope with 95% but is nowhere near ready for replacement or retirement.