South Western Railway Issues Heatwave Warning
Service reliability and passenger comfort likely to be affected
Hot weather can impact train reliability. Picture: South Western Railway
Very hot weather is predicted across the weekend and into next week prompting South Western Railway (SWR) to issue a warning to passengers.
It is possible that the heat might affect both the reliability of the service and passenger comfort.
The train company says that on warm days rails in direct sunshine can be as much as 20 degrees centigrade above air temperature. As rails are made from steel, they expand as they heat up and are subject to strong compression. Because of this speed restrictions can be imposed to trains which may cause delays.
Other risks from the high temperatures include the possibility of line side fires and buckling of the tracks.
Network Rail engineers will be monitoring rail temperatures around the network. Services may be altered so that trains can be used to inspect the line and rapid response staff will be deployed across our network ready to act if poor rail conditions are reported. There are no speed restrictions are currently in place.
The company is also advising passengers to carry water with them particularly when pregnant and not to travel if they feel unwell. If you are taken ill on a journey you are advised to get off the train and the next stop and seek help from staff.
London Waterloo has a free bottle refill with fresh water on the balcony opposite platforms 1 and 2.
Most of SWR trains have air conditioning but the company says it is still worthwhile carrying a fan.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
July 8, 2022