Modeling the Impact of Geomagnetically Induced Currents on Electrified Railway Signalling Systems in the United Kingdom

Studies of space weather impacts on ground-based infrastructure have largely focused on power networks and pipelines, but railway signalling systems are also affected, with misoperations observed in several countries. This paper advances recent theoretical work on geomagnetically induced currents in railway signalling systems by modeling realistic railway lines with parameters from current industrial standards. Focusing on two example lines in the United Kingdom with different locations and orientation, a range of uniform electric fields are simulated along each modelled line. The results show that misoperations could be caused by geomagnetic interference at disturbance levels expected to recur over timescales of several decades. We also demonstrate that the UK estimate for the geoelectric field induced by a 1 in 100-year extreme storm would be strong enough to cause widespread signal misoperations in both lines studied.