Train passengers are being urged to avoid non-essential travel to seaside resorts on Friday because of extreme heat. South Western Railway (SWR) serves popular coastal destinations in Dorset and Hampshire, including Bournemouth. The operator previously urged passengers to restrict travel on Wednesday and Thursday to essential journeys, but extended this to include Friday as high temperatures remain.
Red warning extended
The Met Office has extended its red extreme weather warning. On Friday, the red zone covers the whole of London and the South East. The amber zone stretches from the South East to the North West and South Yorkshire. Thursday's red alert covered large parts of southern England and southern Wales. Dorset and Hampshire's coastal areas are not within the red zone but remain affected by high temperatures.
SWR will continue using a reduced timetable on Friday, and services that do run are expected to be busier than usual. Stuart Meek, chief operating officer for SWR and Network Rail Wessex, said: “We’re sorry that we must extend our advice to only travel if essential to Friday, on top of the advice to only travel if essential on Wednesday and Thursday.”
Heat-related railway issues
Heat-related issues that can affect the railway include buckled rails, sagging overhead electric wires, and lineside fires. Steel rails can exceed 50°C when the air temperature is 30°C. Provisional figures suggest the temperature on Wednesday reached 36.1°C in Gosport, Hampshire. Network Rail urged passengers to “only travel if absolutely necessary” if at least part of their journey is within the Met Office’s extreme heat red warning zone on Thursday and Friday.
Jake Kelly, deputy chief executive of Network Rail, said: “We know how important it is for people to get where they need to be, but this spell of very hot weather will make journeys more challenging across the network. Very high temperatures, like we are seeing in Great Britain and across parts of Europe, put significant strain on the railway, so our priority is to keep passengers safe while keeping services running.”
Other operators affected
Chiltern Railway is running fewer than half its usual services between Wednesday and Friday, affecting London Marylebone services to and from Birmingham, Oxford, and Aylesbury via Amersham. The operator acknowledged “there may be significant delays and very busy conditions”. Avanti West Coast has cut one train per hour on its Birmingham, Liverpool, and Manchester routes between Tuesday and Friday. LNER, which runs services on the East Coast Main Line, told passengers “we strongly recommend that you do not travel” on Thursday or Friday, and those planning to take a train on Saturday should check for service updates.
Many operators have eased restrictions on tickets, meaning they can be refunded without a fee or used on alternative dates. Passengers who do need to travel are urged to plan ahead and carry a bottle of water.
Road travel also affected
The RAC said the number of call-outs it received for broken down vehicles on Wednesday was a fifth higher than usual. RAC road safety spokesperson Rod Dennis said: “London, Essex, Kent and Sussex all saw the biggest increases in vehicles failing in the hot weather. Top faults included tyres – with blowouts more common in the heat as pressure in the rubber builds – batteries and overheated engines. Today is looking just as busy as temperatures climb even higher. As much of the country endures a further day of extreme heat, we cannot emphasise enough the dangers of breaking down in these conditions. Anyone who can delay non-essential trips until the weather starts to cool should do so.”
