TraCCa - Tomorrow's Railway and Climate Change Adaptation Project

Project duration: 2010 - 2012

The project aims to identify the information requirements that are necessary to support the planning and provision of infrastructure and rolling stock that may be adapted to cope with the impacts of climate change at reasonable cost. It will investigate the likely effects of climate change on the performance of infrastructure and rolling stock and also safety.

TRaCCA will enable a prediction of the likely asset and system behaviour for the next 50 years and support planning for an affordable and cost-effective weatherproofing programme over a 20year period. The project is divided into 3 phases.

Phase 1 - Review of available information and confirmation of scope

The first phase comprises the following activities: confirmation of priorities with infrastructure, TOC, maintenance and operations specialists, confirmation of data availability and development of appropriate weather models by the Met Office and confirmation of suitability of UKC1P weather models.

Phase 2 - Initial route mapping, modelling and trial application

Phase 2 is utilising the findings of the Phase 1 work in a trial application. The effectiveness of the initial route mapping and climate change modelling will be tested for the specific case of the West Coast Main Line (WCML). Different options for the adaptation of infrastructure and rolling stock are assessed and the respective costs are calculated.  Preliminary recommendations are made for asset management policy and planning for Control Periods CP5-CP8 as well as for 'quick wins' in terms of adaptation options.

Phase 3 - Network modelling and standards development

Based on the identified priority assets, developed and tested the climate change models and the results of impact assessment, climate change modelling and mapping will be rolled out across the whole network. Needed changes to existing standards will be identified. On the basis of agreed priorities, options for future investment needs can be established. Vulnerability maps will be developed covering the entire NetworkRail railway infrastructure.

Link: www.rssb.co.uk/sitecollectiondocuments/pdf/reports/research/T925_rb_final.pdf

Contact: John Dora, Principal Engineer (Climate Change), Network Rail, John.Dora@networkrail.co.uk

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