Heat slows trains

Train delays are climbing as heat cracks the rails.

A Belgian data startup has found that when the temperature tops 30°C, delays on the SBB network rise by around 25%, though in absolute terms that adds only about thirty seconds to the average trip. 

Across Europe, heat added the equivalent of 1,397 extra days of delay and cancelled more than 20,000 trains between early May and 5 July. 

The reason is physical: rails expand and can shift sideways by more than 50 millimetres, overhead lines sag, and speed limits kick in. 

Summer travellers should expect the pattern to worsen as heatwaves become more frequent.

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