Taking a train during a heat wave? Watch out for 'sun kinks.'
Railroad tracks can buckle in heat waves, causing "sun kinks" and derailments. Operators slow trains in hot weather, use tech like sensors and modeling, and adopt strategies to prevent buckling, improve safety, and reduce delays.
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During heat waves, railroad tracks can expand and buckle, leading to a phenomenon known as "sun kinks." These kinks pose a serious hazard for trains, potentially causing derailments. To mitigate this risk, rail operators slow down trains in excessively hot weather to reduce the mechanical energy that can lead to buckling. As climate change intensifies heat waves, more tracks are at risk of developing sun kinks, disrupting rail services and incurring significant delay costs. Rail operators are implementing new technologies like remote sensors and computer modeling to monitor track health and prevent buckling. Strategies such as using continuous welded rail, painting rails white to reflect sunlight, and employing distributed acoustic sensing are being adopted to enhance track stability and safety. By gathering better data on track temperatures, railroads can make more informed decisions on train speeds, ultimately improving safety, reducing delays, and saving costs.
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