Building climate resilience of UK’s rail network through a multihazard approach

Climate projections suggest the UK will be increasingly affected by climate-induced hazards in the future, exacerbating the potential for multi-hazard events to occur. This paper explores the extent to which climate resilience is being embedded in current and future rail transport infrastructure projects in London through use of a multi-hazard approach. It concludes that a multi-hazard approach is a relatively new concept and is therefore not currently being considered widely; however, opportunities for decision makers to explore its value to mitigate climate risks through collaborative working and further research exist – this paper recommends that two main stages are required to achieve this. Route 1 requires climate/hazard experts to identify and characterise the different hazard interactions that could occur, including their impact on the UK/London. Following this, Route 2 involves the creation of multidisciplinary workshops to identify any multi-hazard vulnerabilities associated with different rail assets – potentially highlighting areas where further research is required. The paper concludes that although a London rail context has been adopted in order to understand the relevance of a multi-hazard approach, there is opportunity for it to be considered across many different sectors in the UK and the wider civil engineering industry.