solar storms, which occur as a result of explosions of electromagnetic energy that take place on the surface of the sun, usually have a range of effects ranging from increased visibility of auroras to certain frequencies of radio communications that are interrupted for several hours. However, in a new study presented at the National Astronomy Meeting (NAM 2022) last week, researchers believe railroad failures may be linked to room weather conditions such as solar storms.
According to Lancaster University physicist Cameron Patterson, such space weather events can create electrical currents that disrupt the normal operation of signaling systems — green signals turn red when no train is nearby.
He explains: “Most of us have heard the dreaded words: ‘your train is delayed due to a signal failure’.
“While we usually associate these errors with rain, snow and leaves on the line, you may not have considered that the sun can also cause train signals to malfunction.”
By disrupting electrical signals and causing red lights to turn green, researchers warned that solar storms could cause horrific accidents in this way.
However, Patterson noted that this would be an extreme outcome, saying: “We are now looking at the case where trains are on the line and how strong a storm needs to be for a red signal to turn green again. ”
This, he added, is “a much more dangerous scenario that could potentially lead to crashes!”
In railroad systems, trains are located by dividing the lines into small, sequential segments known as “blocks” that are usually 0.6-1.2 miles in length.
Each of these blocks is associated with a signal identifying where a train is currently in that block, which are controlled by relays that detect electrical currents in the system, meaning no trains are present on the block, and thus the light green is becoming.
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Conversely, if the relays detect no power, the system thinks the block is occupied by a train, causing the lights to turn red.
By inducing currents in the rail network, solar storms can cause sections of rail to be red lighted even when unoccupied.
In addition, the stronger the solar storm, the more signals are likely to fail, increasing the resulting delays for travelers on the rail network.
Previous studies have detected induced currents with field strengths in excess of 7 V/km, while extreme solar storms are expected to produce fields of up to 20 V/km.