UK Railways & Weather Phenomena. Paul Arnold UK National Weather Strategy Specialist 12/07/2011

Transcription

1 UK Railways & Weather Phenomena Paul Arnold UK National Weather Strategy Specialist 12/07/2011 1

2 Past Present - Future UK Railways: Facts & Figures Weather Phenomena: A National Weather Team: 2005 Weather Phenomena: 2007 A Single Forecasting Web Site: 2009 Quantifying the Risk: KPI data An Automated Severe Weather Communications Process: 2010 A European Solution: 2011 Railmet: 2011

3 UK Railways: Facts & Figures 32,000 kilometres of track 40,000 bridges, tunnels, and viaducts 2,500 stations 6,650 level crossings 1,000 signal boxes 35,000 personnel Over 20,000 trains per day Over 90% PPM

4 Weather Phenomena: 2002 Monday 28 October 2002 High winds and heavy rain across the network 100 s trees down, 35 SPADS, widespread network closures

5 Weather Phenomena: 2004 Thursday 28 October 2004 High winds and heavy rain in Devon & Cornwall Widespread flooding with numerous main lines affected Penzance station closed and locals report worst conditions experienced in living memory

6 A National Weather Team: 2005 National Weather Strategy Specialist 3 Seasons Programme Specialists 8 Seasons Delivery Specialists Functional support representing:- Train Planning Maintenance Engineering Research & Development

7 HQ National Weather Strategy Specialist Seasons Programme Specialists NDS Fleet Commercial Control Seasons Management Team (SMT) Train Planning Centres London Birmingham Leeds Routes Route Weather Strategy Co-ordinators from all 8 routes

8 Engineering Traction and Rolling Stock Ops and CS Route Director Seasons Steering Team NDS Research and Development Infrastructure & Investment (II) 6 Sigma Maintenance Improvement HQ SMT NDS Contractors JSD Rail Weedfree Imrie External Suppliers Portec Rail Lawrence Industries Thermatagy Basic Solutions Services ADAS Met Office ARUP Vaisala TPCs TOCs LUL ATOC Adhesion Working Group European NR RWSCs Ops and CS e.g. JSMG Maintenance Route Seasonal Preparedness Meetings e.g. SEAJIT e.g. SAM e.g. AWG TOCs e.g. WWAT

9 Weather Phenomena: 2007 Thursday 18 January mph winds across the network Blanket ESR s, 2,725 trains caped, 1,005 part-caped 220,000 delay minutes, 45.7% PPM

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11 A Single Forecasting Web Site: 2009 Seasons Management Team: uniting Network Rail O&CS Route & National, NDS, TPC, Engineering, R&D Seasons Management Conferences: uniting the U.K. rail industry Network Rail, TfL,TOCs, FOCs, Suppliers, Organisations SMT Weather: the rail industry dedicated forecasting web site Daily forecasts, warnings, observations, ensembles Radar & Satellite imagery, Pressure Maps, Archive Data

12 2009 Autumn 2009 delivered the most successful results ever. Industry penalty payments stood at a record low and the industry demonstrated unity in severe weather event response. This welcome unity had a huge positive impact during the management of the winter 09/10 season, this being the worst winter in the U.K. for 30 years. SMT Weather has undergone several developmental phases and has now received over 25,000 hits since launch in In summary, the U.K. rail industry now has a dedicated team, working to defined standards, processes, and protocols. It utilises bespoke forecasting tools combining the latest technological advances and understands the safety and performance impact of severe weather events on the rail network.

13 2009 The National Weather Strategy team manage the ongoing seasonal weather risk to the railway throughout the year and also develop strategies to minimise the impact of severe weather events, which will become increasingly prevalent in the coming decades. They work with train operators, suppliers, and other U.K. transport operators to identify operational thresholds, map climate related risks and predict events.

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15 Quantifying the Risk Summary 2010 SPAD 10 ORUN 167 WSTCF

16 Quantifying the Risk Summary 2010 Industry Minutes 415K NR Minutes 243K 16

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18 Cumulative Safety KPI s 18

19 Cumulative Performance Minutes 19

20 An Automated Severe Weather Communications Process: December 2010 Severe Weather Event National Industry Conference T minus 5: Telephone & notification to senior management T minus 4: Daily National Weather Summary Industry auto notification T minus 2: NWS plus SWENIC at 1000 hrs & 1600 hrs T minus 1: NWS plus SWENIC at 1000 hrs & 1600 hrs (TT decision) T plus 0: NWS plus SWENIC at 1000 hrs & 1600 hrs (Monitor) T plus 1: NWS plus SWENIC at 1000 hrs & 1600 hrs (Monitor) T plus 2: NWS plus SWENIC at 1000 hrs & 1600 hrs (Close) 12/07/

21 National Weather Summary Identifies key weather element thresholds and geographic variations. Uploaded at 1100 hrs daily from T minus 4. Immediate automated delivery to industry distribution list via Subscribe. 12/07/

22 National Industry Conference Confirms conference logistics Publishes agreed agenda Issued by 1600 hrs on T minus 3 for advance notification of SWENIC 1000 hrs on T minus 2. Issue of subsequent SWENIC advice at 1000 hrs & 1600 hrs through the entire affected period until close has been defined and normal working resumed. 12/07/

23 GB Procedures & Communications Solutions Summary Single Industry forecasting web site uniting 70,000 personnel. Over 100,000 visits since launch April Defined processes appropriate to all weather elements Agreed thresholds and resultant operational response Automated delivery of notices via the self help Subscribe function. Archive data bank for review purposes. 12/07/

24 A European Solution: 2011 The worst 2 winters in the past 30 years has highlighted the requirement to improve communications amongst relevant partners within Europe on the subject of severe weather incident management. This area of discussion was explored further via agenda items at the following meetings: 17 June 2010 Helsinki FTA-EIM Workshop on Winter Preparedness. Initial teleconference to discuss the merits of integrated communications. 15 September 2010 Paris UIC Workshop on Winter & Railways. European Severe Weather Management & Communications accepted as one of several areas to develop further. 12/07/

25 A European Solution: September 2010 EIM Behind The Lines quotation. EIM will continue to act as a coordinator for its members in the framework of the work on the climate change adaptation. For example, Network Rail s proposal on a EU wide forecast web tool could be of interest to other EIM members. Moreover, it would be worth setting up an ad-hoc communication strategy in order to be ready to react promptly in the press to any possible winter problems in the coming months. 12/07/

26 A European Solution: 2011 I accepted an action at the UIC meeting on 15 September to create an initial proposal that furthered the development of European Severe Weather Management & Communications. This proposal was published in full by the UIC in October 2010 under the fact sheet heading Weather Management pdf (Extract) Specific areas for onward development: Report & Review library Key operating personnel and supplier contact database Prompt actual weather data from shared weather stations Live communications forum in times of severe weather disruption 12/07/

27 Politics 12/07/

28 Media Message

29 Railmet: Severe Weather Incident Management & Communications Pan European Communications Forum Report & Review Library Key Supplier & Professionals contact database Live weather data via shared stations from participating countries Unique Euro Precip-Type Radar Online Help & Consultation

30 Thank you!