Train accident after heavy rain highlights need to adapt to growing climate risks

A deadly train accident in southern Germany has raised questions of how prepared the country’s transport infrastructure is to withstand extreme weather events fuelled by climate change. Authorities in the state of Baden-Württemberg said the accident near the city of Ulm was likely caused by a landslide, after heavy rainfall in the hilly region damaged the tracks, newspaper Tagesspiegel reported. 

At least three people on the Deutsche Bahn regional train died and more than 40 others were injured. State investigators said that an overflowing sewer tunnel caused the train track’s embankment to slide and covered the tracks with debris.

The climate research consensus is that the increasing incidences of heavy rain events in many parts of Europe are caused by higher average temperatures. Large parts of Germany had seen long-lasting and intense rainfall in the days before the accident. A recent study by the Dresden Technical University concluded that climate change generally increases the risks to railway infrastructure, Taggespiegel wrote. Heavy rains and falling trees have both increased significantly in number, the researchers found. 

Newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung highlighted a report by Deutsche Bahn from the past year, in which the national railway company acknowledged its high exposure to climate-related risks and announced measures to better adapt its infrastructure to increasing extreme weather events. The company said it already operated a “natural dangers management” unit to better prepare against storms, heatwaves, and heavy precipitation, as well as a monitoring system for the health of trees adjacent to railways in its 33,000-kilometer-long network.

In a bid to modernise ailing infrastructure and make the country ready for achieving climate neutrality, Germany’s government coalition has set up a special fund worth 500 billion euros for investments over the coming decade. Deutsche Bahn has laid claim to about 150 billion euros of this pot, pointing to the need for investments in railway safety and its contribution to national climate action efforts.