Extreme weather means re-think needed on transport funding – Transport Xtra
In the face of increasingly frequent extreme weather incidents, transport funding may have to be re-prioritised in preparation for “catastrophic disruptive events,” transport academic Greg Marsden has warned
He made his comments after temperatures rose above 40°C in in some parts of the UK on 18 and 19 July. Rail services were heavily impacted after rails buckled and overhead wire systems failed. A new record rail temperature of 62°C was recorded in Suffolk. This is over 20°C above recorded air temperatures.
Marsden, a professor of transport governance at the Institute for Transport Studies at the University of Leeds, told LTT: “Given the size of our networks and the increasing unpredictability of extremes in weather we can only adapt small parts of the network. These are likely to be those most frequently impacted or where there are no meaningful alternatives and where wider system resilience is low.”
