Water sprinklers are being introduced on key railway lines in Scotland to cool track during the extended heatwave.

Network Rail has installed sprinklers to the underside of sections of track that are exposed to significant amounts of sunshine, especially at sites in the east of the country. Lengths of perforated tube slowly drip cold water onto the tracks to reduce the chance of rails bowing or breaking in the heat.

One of the most high profile locations currently being sprinkled is a section of track near Princes Street in Edinburgh, where the intervention reportedly cooled track by four degrees in 10 minutes recently.

Network Rail in Scotland is also painting some stretches of track white in an attempt to reflect sunlight away from the railway.

A spokesman said: “Track temperatures can be more than 10 degrees hotter than the air temperature, so these interventions can help to reduce the chance of problems in hot weather.”

The rail operator came under fire from Scottish Transport Minister Keith Brown last week following dips in operational performance north of the border, due in part to the high temperatures. Mr Brown was also concerned with a spate of vandalism to the railways in Scotland and of lightning strikes knocking out signalling equipment.

Network Rail’s route managing director for Scotland David Simpson responded by saying: “We are working hard to manage the infrastructure issues we are currently facing and to put in place plans to improve performance.”

(Phot: Acilo Photography)

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