Extreme weather events are increasingly affecting European rail infrastructure, and the pace at which networks are adapting remains uneven, according to a new report by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA). The document shows that 70% of infrastructure managers have observed an increase in the impact of extreme weather on operations and infrastructure, and the data collected indicates an upward trend over the past decade, peaking in 2018.
The report reviews the effects that floods, storms, landslides, cold spells, heat waves, and wildfires have on the European rail system.
The overall conclusion is clear: the European rail network is increasingly vulnerable, and some of the most significant disruptions stem from a combination of heavy rainfall, flash floods, and strong winds.
Flooding remains the primary risk
According to ERA, flooding, storms, and landslides are the main climate-related hazards for European railway infrastructure.
Among these, the risk of flooding is identified as the most significant by a large majority of infrastructure managers, and at the operational level, heavy rainfall and flash floods consistently account for a significant portion of delays.
At the same time, strong winds cause major disruptions, and landslides are among the events that cause the longest average delays per incident.
The report also notes that each country faces a different combination of risks, meaning that adaptation solutions cannot be mechanically copied from one country to another.
In southern Europe, for example, the effects of heatwaves and wildfires are more pronounced, while in other regions floods, storms, and winter events dominate.
Increasing delays and years of service lost
The impact is not only seen in repair costs but also in day-to-day operations. ERA shows that annual rail delays caused by extreme weather have risen sharply since 2018, with very high levels in 2021, 2022, and 2023. On a European scale, the cumulative effect of these disruptions amounts to between 1 and 3 full years of lost rail service annually.
Furthermore, the analysis by hazard type shows that heavy rainfall and flooding consistently account for a significant portion of delays, and strong wind events also make a major contribution. When analyzing severity per incident, landslides stand out due to the long duration of the disruptions they cause.
Damages amounting to hundreds of millions and even billions of EUR
The ERA report places these issues in a broader context: between 1980 and 2023, extreme weather events caused economic losses of 738 billion EUR in the EU, and between 2005 and 2024 the total reached 482 billion EUR. Floods accounted for 44% of the losses, storms for 29%, and heat waves for 19%.
In the rail sector, the report also provides several examples illustrating the scale of the problem. The floods of July 2021 caused damage in Belgium estimated at over 65 million EUR, while in Germany the costs rose to 1.4 billion EUR.
In Emilia-Romagna, the 2023 floods generated costs of at least 150 million EUR, and in Greece, recovery from the September 2023 storms, which severely affected the Athens–Thessaloniki corridor, is estimated at approximately 450 million EUR.
In Spain, following the DANA storm in the Valencia region, emergency repairs were estimated at 212 million EUR.
These examples show that the discussion about climate resilience of the railway is no longer theoretical. For many railway administrations, the issue is already one of service continuity, safety, and reconstruction funding.
Adaptation is lagging behind
One of the report’s most striking conclusions is that the institutional response is still not keeping pace with the risks. Only 37% of infrastructure managers use IPCC climate projections and scenarios when designing new assets.
Furthermore, less than half have a climate change adaptation plan, and in many cases the measures taken are ad hoc, not part of a coherent long-term strategy.
ERA thus suggests that the European rail network needs not only greater investment, but also better data collection, more rigorous risk assessments, updated standards, and design that takes into account the future climate, not just historical weather data.
In a Europe where extreme weather is increasingly affecting rail infrastructure, the question is no longer whether networks need to be adapted, but how quickly they will be able to do so.
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