UK: A Weather Academy pilot programme has been launched by Network Rail, Newcastle University, the Met Office and weather forecasting service MetDesk, bringing together rail operations staff, asset engineers and meteorology experts to identify ways of mitigating the effects of adverse weather.
Network Rail staff have worked through practical case studies, interactive tuition and scenario-based exercises to improve the management of weather risks. Further workshops are planned to take place next year.
‘This is the first time, in the transport sector at least, that we got people together to think about how you manage the considerable risks to operations that you face from adverse weather and related hazards’, said Dame Julia Slingo, an expert in climatology who led a review of NR’s capability to manage the effects of heavy rainfall following the fatal derailment near Stonehaven in August 2020.
