Photo Story: Austria Railways tests tracks painted in white against heat

An handout photo made available by the Austrian Federal Railways (OeBB) shows white paint on railway tracks, at a test area near Bludenz, Austria.

The OeBB carried out a first test with tracks painted in white colour on a more than five-kilometre-long stretch of track near Bludenz.

Studies have shown that rails painted in white can reduce temperatures in the metal rail by about five to eight degrees Celsius and limit structural damages caused from bending.

In Switzerland, track damage occurred on Wednesday in the Zurich Oberland, canton Aargau near Brugg and in the Geneva area due to the excessive heat.

The Federal Railways is also examining measures to make its rails more heat resistant. One of these is painting the sides of the rails with white paint. According to the Federal Railways, studies show that white rails remain up to 7°C cooler.

 

EPA-EFE/OEBB/CHRISTINA OLSACHER