Commuters across the United Kingdom are experiencing significant disruptions to train services this week as Network Rail imposes speed restrictions and cancels services due to concerns that record-breaking heat could damage rail tracks. The measures follow two train derailments that occurred within a 24-hour period last week, suspected to be linked to high temperatures affecting the rails.
On Thursday, a train derailed near Lewes, resulting in two passengers sustaining serious injuries and 18 others requiring hospital treatment. The following day, another train came off the tracks at Wickford, though no injuries were reported in that incident. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch is investigating both occurrences.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander stated that the industry is actively managing the heat by closely monitoring track temperatures and implementing speed restrictions where necessary. In the Anglia region, trains are running at reduced speeds between King’s Lynn and Ely, and Cambridge, as engineers work to address potential track instability caused by soil shrinkage. Greater Anglia has issued a revised timetable until weather conditions improve.
The speed restrictions mean journeys, such as the one from Waterloo to Exeter St Davids, are now taking approximately 30 minutes longer. Services between Lewes and Eastbourne are suspended indefinitely, with further disruptions expected across the wider network in East Sussex throughout the week.
Bruce Williamson of the campaign group RailFuture acknowledged the anxiety these derailments may cause commuters but cautioned against definitively linking them to the hot weather without further investigation. "We mustn’t jump to conclusions that the hot weather caused this. It probably did, but we don’t know this yet," he said.
Meanwhile, in Wales, emergency services, supported by Gurkha troops and a helicopter, are battling major wildfires. Approximately 100 troops have been deployed to assist fire chiefs in containing rapidly spreading blazes that have destroyed homes and forced evacuations. Firefighters have reported experiencing heat stress due to the intensity of the fires, which are affecting multiple locations across south and west Wales. Some wildfires are suspected to have been started by arsonists, and four 14-year-old boys were arrested in connection with a fire near Porth, later released on bail.