Solar Storms Threaten Railway Safety: Experts Sound Alarm
Scientists have warned that solar storms, which are blasts of energy from the Sun, could potentially cause train accidents by disrupting rail signals. Researchers modeled how geomagnetically induced currents from solar storms could affect rail signaling systems and found that space weather events capable of triggering faults in these systems are expected in the UK every few decades. The study suggests that solar storms could flip rail signals in either direction, turning a red signal green or a green signal red, posing significant safety risks. This highlights the need to take space weather as a serious natural hazard and plan for its potential impacts on critical infrastructure.