Scotland’s Railway publishes its Climate Ready Plan

Thursday, April 18, 2024

Scotland’s Railway has today (Wednesday, April 17) published its Climate Ready Plan which sets out how the nation’s railways will respond to the challenges of our changing climate over the next five years and beyond.

Published jointly by Network Rail Scotland and ScotRail the 109-page plan will inform investment across the railway’s infrastructure during the next five years from April 2024 to March 2029.

The plan sets out the actions Scotland’s Railway will take to improve the resilience of the railway against physical changes in the climate.

It includes plans for direct investment in infrastructure as well as introducing additional climate science and adaptation capabilities to strengthen the industry’s decision-making.

The plan also lays the groundwork for development of a longer-term adaptation strategy for managing the risks associated with changes in Scotland’s climate.

Alan Ross, Network Rail Scotland’s director of engineering and asset management, said: “We know that our climate is changing at an unprecedented rate, and that this is having an impact on Scotland’s Railway.

“Our plan will look at how we can implement new and improved climate science and adaptation capabilities that will strengthen our decision-making processes and help us manage our changing climate in the future.”

David Lister, safety and sustainability director for ScotRail, said: “Our vision is to deliver a safe, sustainable, inclusive and accessible railway for Scotland.

Climate resilience is a strategic priority for Scotland’s Railway, and this plan will keep track and train working together to ensure Scotland’s Railway is adapting to the impacts of climate change while targeting actions that enable the continued safe operation of the railway and reduce the disruption climate change can cause.”

In total £1.9bn will be invested in renewing the railway’s infrastructure in Scotland over the next five years.

More than £400m of this will contribute towards the resilience of the network against extreme weather and future changes in climate – including over £100m on earthworks, £100m on lineside infrastructure including drainage and over £40m on structures like bridges and tunnels.

This builds on investment already made over recent years including the establishment in Scotland of the British railway’s first 24/7 specialist weather desk, staffed by qualified meteorologists, to analyse the real-time impacts of extreme weather on the railway.

Scotland’s Railway is also at the forefront of deploying remote monitoring equipment on the infrastructure to help give early warning of potential issues with wireless tilt meters now installed at over 150 locations.

With plans to roll this kit out to more sites, the tilt sensors detect movement in slopes and send an alert via the mobile network to the railway’s control room.

River level monitors and scour telemetry has also been installed on key bridges across the Scottish network and additional investment has been made in surveying and maintaining drainage assets across the country.

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