Network Rail, Britain’s main rail infrastructure manager, launched an Extreme Heat Task Force (EHTF) in July 2022 in response to record temperatures which had caused significant disruption for passengers. The remit of the EHTF was to assess how network resilience might be improved in these conditions and how other countries manage these conditions more effectively.

Network Rail invited Transport Focus to participate in this work. Transport Focus is the publicly-funded statutory watchdog representing the interests of Britain’s rail passengers, England’s bus, coach and tram passengers (outside of London) and users of the Strategic Road Network (SRN) in England.

As part of this work, the advice of a limited number of EPF members elsewhere in Europe was solicited. This provided useful material in the preparation of the Transport Focus research report, which clearly describes passengers’ priorities.