Nearly 45,000 trains have been cancelled over the last 10 years due to flooding
June 24: Using data obtained through a Freedom of Information request sent to Network Rail, Round Our Way found that nearly 45,000 trains have been cancelled due to flooding from severe weather since 2013.
Round Our Way’s analysis was shared exclusively with Sky News.
There were 44,919 train cancellations and 1,488,854 minutes (1,034 days) in delays recorded between 2013 and 2023 due to flooding caused by severe weather, according to new analysis from Round Our Way based on freedom of information (FOI) requests to Network Rail.
ScotRail was the worst affected operator, recording 8,371 cancellations, followed by Northern Trains with 5,814 and Edinburgh was the most affected planned destination, recording 1,805 cancellations, followed by Leeds with 1,342 and Glasgow Central with 1,187.
The UK is experiencing more intense levels of rainfall due to climate change. Warmer skies over Britain are holding more moisture, leading to both greater levels of rain and more sudden heavy downpours which can overwhelm drainage systems.
The State of the UK Climate 2022 report notes that the recent 2011-2020 decade was 9% wetter than 1961-1990. This impact is more stark in the winter – for the recent period 2013–2022, UK winters were 10% wetter than 1991–2020 and 25% wetter than 1961–1990.
Graphic: Sky News
The Met Office notes that Scotland has experienced the greatest increase in rainfall. From the start of the observational record in 1862, six of the 10 wettest years across the UK have occurred since 1998.
Analysis by the Met Office Hadley Centre shows heavy rainfall events in the UK (where over 50mm of rain falls) have increased in frequency by 60% over the last century, and are projected to increase further
Graphic: Sky News
On train cancellations the analysis shows that:
2020 was the year in the last decade when the greatest number of cancellations were recorded, with 8,036 journeys affected by flooding, partly due to Storm Dennis hitting the UK in February.
2023 had the second greatest number of cancellations during the 10 year-period with 6,457 cancellations recorded, partly due to Storm Babet hitting the UK inOctober.
Journeys planned for the winter months were the most affected by flooding cancellations. February was the worst affected month (7,905), followed by December (7,798) and January (5,543).
On train delays the analysis further shows that:
2014 was the year when the greatest number of delays (minutes) were recorded, with 259,162 minutes worth of delays recorded.
This was followed by 2016 with 226,422 minutes worth of delays.
Graphic: Sky News
Roger Harding, Director of Round Our Way, a not-for-profit supporting people impacted by climate change in the UK, said:
“All across Britain over the last decade people’s train journeys from A to B have been disrupted by floods caused by severe weather linked to climate change. This impacts so many people’s lives in so many ways - from missing work and hospital appointments through to not being able to see our loved ones and missing reading our kids a bedtime story.
“2024 has already seen a great number of cancellations and delays across the country, so is likely to be a record year. It is vital that politicians take the impacts of climate change on things like our transport infrastructure seriously as well as taking action to ensure these impacts don’t continue to become more frequent and more damaging.”
Testimonials from people impacted by trains delayed and cancelled due to severe weather:
A train conductor who has worked for Northern for many years (willing to be interviewed, but must not be identified)
“Last year,” he said, “while on my way to Southampton, I saw the effects of a flood on an old Victorian embankment – the railway track was hanging in mid air. So two lines had to go into one for weeks, creating a bottleneck for both passenger and freight trains. Services were thinned out, meaning far fewer trains.”
“Flooding affects not just the ballast, which are the stones beneath the track; there is also an electric current in the rails that works the signals. When water floods over tracks, there is short circuiting, the signalling goes haywire and that is obviously dangerous. There are then more bottlenecks as drivers are told the train is not going, or they must drive at a reduced speed, or drive ‘on sight’ rather than according to signals.”
He said our lines are not ready for the challenge. “Sometimes, rather than just run at caution, everything stops and a line is shut. Ultimately it’s Network Rail who decide as they own the infrastructure, but signal boxes are often not in the relevant place. For example, the signal box for Darlington is in York. Many other signal boxes these days are also in York, the lines are generally controlled from a central point.
“This means if there is localised flooding the authorities are slow to react. They will send a van to check but if roads are impassable, it all takes longer. There might be, say, a flood 25 miles away, with bridges washed away, but where I am may be bright and sunny.
“Train firms claim money back for passengers having to get taxis when trains cannot get them to their destinations. Ultimately that means Network Rail is paying, which means the taxpayer is paying.”
He also highlights that clearing drains is a key part of engineering works, and notes that a drainage system being incorrectly installed and monitored was part of the problem in the fatal Stonehaven crash.
“Leaves, other debris and water build up in small drains, just like in our streets,” he notes. “It’s a massive job to keep on top of.”
Student Erin Townsend, from Brighton, was working as a catering assistant in an assisted living setting for older people in February 2022 when Storm Eunice hit, bringing intense wind, heavy rain and flooding.
Shortly before the storm arrived, Erin, then 18, took the train from Brighton to London, then another train from there to Leeds, to visit a friend for two nights.
“We were fine in the north,” said Erin, “but down south there was soon a lot of wind and rain and trains were going up the spout. My one to London was not cancelled, but I was thinking, should I get it?”
As her father was terminally ill at the time - he died three months later - Erin’s Mum encouraged her to delay her journey home; there’d be no way of leaving him to collect their daughter from London if that became necessary.
“I’d bought a cheap advance ticket and would have got into Brighton late, but there were trains cancelled between there and London. I didn’t want to be stranded, and on a Saturday night,” Erin said.
She therefore rebooked her train so she would leave Leeds on the Sunday instead, and stayed another night in Yorkshire, meaning she had to miss work in Brighton. Luckily, she didn’t lose any money. “I was on a zero hours contract. But a colleague agreed to cover my shift, and I did one later for him.”
