BRITAIN’S rail industry – including its heritage sector – was left counting the cost as the country blistered in record temperatures during July’s unprecedented heatwave.
The East Coast Main Line between King’s Cross, York and Leeds closed on the afternoon of July 19 as a new UK temperature record high of 40.3C was set at Coningsby in Lincolnshire, just eight miles from Heritage Railway’s editorial offices in Horncastle.
The freak weather buckled rails in several locations on the national network, as well as damaging overhead wires and signalling systems and igniting lineside fires due to baked-dry vegetation.
Network Rail issued a ‘do not travel’ warning, and many main line operators cancelled or reduced services. Likewise, heritage railways responsibly imposed steam bans to mitigate the risk of lineside fires, as well as taking into consideration the well-being of steam crews who already
