Increased precipitation and increased water flow in watercourses can affect the new railway line between Copenhagen and Ringsted.
In connection with the project on expanding the track capacity between Copenhagen and Ringsted on Zealand, the Public Transport Authority, which has analysed the track capacity, has carried out a climate change impact assessment for the project. The goal of the impact assessment is to investigate a future rail track's robustness to climate change over a 100-year operating period. The assessment shows that especially increased precipitation and increased water flow in watercourses can impact on railway constructions, whilst other factors such as increasing temperatures, rising sea levels and rising groundwater will not have a significant impact.
Of particular importance is an expected 20 per cent increase in the intensity of rainfall in heavy downpours in the year 2100. This means that during heavy downpours more rain per second will fall than in the past. This has implications for the size of railway drainage ditches.
At places where watercourse cross the track, under a bridge or tunnel, climate changes mean there is a risk that water can not flow quickly enough and thereby build up and risk eroding the railway construction. Therefore a new track between Copenhagen and Ringsted will have a 30 per cent greater capacity for water flow than the norm that is used at present. The Public Transport Authority assesses that the recommendations for adaptation to climate change are robust in relation to the variations in the expected climate changes.