Europe’s Transport Grid Overwhelmed by Record Summer Heat

Rail lines are buckling in Sweden, highways are cracking in Germany, and commuters are enduring oppressive heat in unventilated train cars across the continent that is warming faster than any other.

The new reality underscores that much of Europe’s transportation infrastructure was designed for a cooler climate and is now struggling with the scorching summers that have become routine.

“Europe’s transport systems were engineered for a climate that no longer exists,” said Patrice Geoffron, who leads the energy and climate‑economics team at Université Paris Dauphine‑PSL in France.

Many European tracks and roads need costly upgrades to meet the new temperature extremes, or service disruptions will become the norm, experts warn. Rail operators in the United Kingdom and France have already cut services this week and issued alerts as Western Europe experiences its fifth heat wave since May.

Fully adapting the network to climate change would demand huge investment, and even if cash‑strapped governments could afford it, many prioritize defense over infrastructure. For now, authorities are pursuing smaller, interim fixes.

“The main challenge is actually not heat; the main challenge is funding itself,” said Professor Felix Creutzig of the University of Sussex, who leads the cities working group at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

Bending tracks, sagging cables

Heat‑related problems are most visible on Europe’s rail network, which serves hundreds of millions of travelers daily. Many routes rely on aging infrastructure; for example, London’s metro, the world’s oldest system, opened in 1863.

A significant share of European train carriages still lack air‑conditioning, a deficit that is slowly being addressed through costly upgrades. London’s Piccadilly line, for instance, is being rebuilt at an estimated £3.4 billion ($4.6 billion) to replace older cars with air‑conditioned models—only one of the 11 lines in the city’s Tube network.

Because many carriages remain non‑air‑conditioned, commuters are beginning to reroute their journeys to use climate‑controlled services such as the Elizabeth Line or overground trains.

Overheated railcars pose safety risks, including heat exhaustion, especially if power fails and windows cannot be opened. Passengers are unlikely to resort to emergency hammers to break glass, noted Jennifer Schooling, a professor at Anglia Ruskin University and director of DARe, a British research center studying climate impacts on transport.

Heat also warps steel rails. Metal expands with temperature, and many European tracks were laid decades ago for milder conditions. Recent “sun curves”—rails that bend sideways under extreme heat—are believed to have caused a freight train derailment in Sweden in June, according to the Swedish Transport Administration.

A low‑cost remedy is to paint rails white to reflect sunlight, a practice Britain uses on “hot spots.” However, Professor François Gemenne of HEC Paris cautions that lighter coloring only buys a few years; eventually, tracks must be replaced with materials that can tolerate higher temperatures.

Overhead power lines are similarly vulnerable. In intense heat, cables expand and can sag low enough to contact moving trains, causing outages and cascading delays. An incident in the Netherlands last month disrupted traffic between Britain, France, Belgium and Germany. Newer cables employ automated tension systems—balance weights or springs—to adjust to temperature swings, but older fixed‑tension cables remain prone to snapping in winter or overheating in summer.

“We’re in this conundrum,” said Professor Schooling. “The impacts of climate change seem to be happening faster than we were expecting.”

Melting roads, skidding sand

Europe’s road network also suffers from extreme heat. Concrete surfaces can crack when they lack room to expand, leading to “blowups” that forced partial closures on German highways this summer.

Asphalt can melt, a phenomenon that halted trams in Leipzig during June’s heat wave when the tracks became gummed with softened pavement. Lighter‑colored surfaces and heat‑resistant materials can mitigate the problem, but they are typically more expensive and require stricter construction standards, according to Professor Geoffron.

During recent heatwaves, municipalities have spread sand or dust on streets to prevent melting asphalt from becoming overly sticky. However, Professor Schooling warns that excessive sand can cause vehicles to skid, creating a delicate balancing act for road‑maintenance crews.

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