Time and tide F
Climate change could pose big problems for Network Rail, as water erodes trackbeds, embankments, bridges and tunnels. In Wales, coastal erosion is high on the agenda of its new route managing director, Mark Langman, as Andrew Mourant discovers
ew pictures tell a story more vividly than the wall-mounted photo positioned behind Mark Langman, Network Rail’s route managing director for Wales. With a
sweep of the arm, he points to a small train shrouded in spray, running the gauntlet of waves storming a sea wall at Ferryside, Carmarthenshire. ‘Looks like an explosion,’ Langman says. It is, he adds, an image less familiar than that of the much-pounded line at Teignmouth, yet it’s one point among several in Wales that could pose problems as the UK’s weather lurches between extremes.
Network Rail already has John Dora
working full-time from Euston headquarters to understand climate change and prepare for its consequences. What challenges all this may hold for the tracts of coastal line in Wales is an unfolding story. But there’s no crisis, at least not according to Langman. And he knows the patch well – he spent fi ve years as general manager for Wales and the Marches before taking over as the country’s fi rst route director last November. ‘I think we’re in a fairly good state at
the moment,’ he says. ‘We’ve done work at Ferryside that’s put us in good stead, unless something catastrophic happens – for
instance, if we get one of those one-in-100- years storms that seem to happen every two years.’ Yet isn’t that the nub of his problem –
extreme weather happening more often? ‘Absolutely, and we’ve got to recognise that some of the railway was built by Victorians in different conditions to those that we have today. We have to start thinking ahead.’ Out of its budget, Network Rail must
maintain the railway wherever it is and whatever the circumstances. In Wales, plenty of track lies by the sea – along the Cambrian Coast, parts of the north Wales coastline and sections in west Wales. Looking after all its assets in geographically diffi cult locations is an expensive responsibility, and one that could have an unpredictable impact on fi nances. Where problems arise, Langman’s instinct, that of a lifelong rail man, is to fi x things at once and not worry where the money’s coming from. ‘We’ll do whatever is necessary to make sure the railway stays open if it’s our asset.’ Beyond that, says Langman, the broader
Sea wall in Barmouth PAGE 24 MARCH 2012
www.railimages.co.uk
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