Assessing climate-induced risks to urban railway infrastructure

Climate change and its severe impacts pose a number of challenges to transport infrastructure, particularly railway infrastructure, requiring immediate action. A railway system is a linear distributed asset passing different geographical locations and exposed to heterogeneous vulnerabilities under diverse environmental conditions. Furthermore, most of the railway infrastructure assets were designed and built without in-depth analysis of future climate impacts. This paper considers the effects of extreme temperatures on urban railway infrastructure assets, including rail, “switches and crossings”. The data for this study were gathered by exploring various railway infrastructure and meteorological databases over 19 years. In addition, a comprehensive nationwide questionnaire survey of Swedish railway infrastructure, railway maintenance companies, and municipalities has been conducted to assess the risks posed by climate change. A risk and vulnerability assessment framework for railway infrastructure assets is developed. The study shows that track buckling and vegetation fires due to the effect of hot temperatures and rail defects and breakage due to the effect of cold temperatures pose a medium risk. On the other hand, supportability losses due to cold temperatures are classified as high risk. The impact analysis helps infrastructure managers systematically identify and prioritize climate risks and develop appropriate climate adaptation measures and actions to cope with future climate change impacts.