This seems somewhat ridiculous, considering summer could bring temperatures of over 35°C. Surely the Lizzie line should be able to handle a warm Spring afternoon?

by iamagardner

21 comments

  1. This country can’t handle snow or heat, no wonder why most of the year we just get dull weather that just about allows things to actually work

  2. After I saw “leaves on the track” as an excuse to cancel trains, I won’t be surprised.

  3. My sun hat is too big and a very slight breeze blew it off, so I can sympathise with that train.

  4. it’s the sudden change in temperature that causes the track buckling risk due to metal expansion in the heat you won’t have these issues in peak summer. if you travel by train in mainland europe a lot you’ll see same warnings in france, netherlands,germany etc this time of year 

  5. You know, it’s very old infrastructure etc… Oh wait.

  6. England, the country of eternal fall, where 1°C is too cold and 25°C is too hot, for the infrastructure to cope.

  7. I didn’t know the Lizzy line had tracks made of cottage cheese!

  8. I’ll be glad when they finally block out the sun permanently in this country.

  9. The properties of metal.

    The line itself is hundreds of years old from Marylebone, westward so can’t be straight like modern high speed rail.

  10. There has been a bunch of track renewals at Acton main line station on the releif lines these past few weekends.

    Because of that the relayed track hasn’t been stressed yet, so will have a lowered critical rail temperature than usual before an emergency speed for safety needs imposing.

    Modern track systems with welded rail need stressing, a process where a section of the rail is cut out and hydraulic rams stretch the rail, its then welded into place, so when it heats up it expands by releasing stress instead of buckling. However you can’t stress that rail immediately after a renewal as the ballast its laid on that holds the whole formation in place needs time to settle.

  15. Sounds legit. They can’t say it’s the wrong kind of snow.

  16. It’s kind of a joke how outdated the tube is atp. Now it’s too disruptive and too expensive to upgrade them for the 21st century. Very nice

  19. Imagine when we get a 40 degree day again. We are due one

  21. Rail temperatures would be in the high to mid 50s Celsius . All of this will cause thermal expansion in the rails which could lead to track buckles. Reducing the line speed allows the trains to stop at a safe distance in a shorter time if there are track buckles in the tracks. Slower speeds also reduce the loading forces on the track preventing the likelihood of a track buckle. The same principles apply to overhead lines, particularly where the lines are not counter weighted or tensioned.

Comments are closed.