Proceedings of the
35th European Safety and Reliability Conference (ESREL2025) and
the 33rd Society for Risk Analysis Europe Conference (SRA-E 2025)
15 – 19 June 2025, Stavanger, Norway
The Effect of Climate Condition on the CO2 Emissions of Maintenance Activities: a Case Study From Railway
1Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden.
2Faculty of Science and Technology, UiT, The Arctic, University of Norway, Tromso, Norway.
ABSTRACT
Climate conditions significantly impact the working conditions for inspection and maintenance of railway assets, which may lead to higher carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This study investigates the impact of seasonal climate variations on CO2 emissions associated with inspection and maintenance activities for railway infrastructure.
A case study from a railway system in northern Sweden is analysed to demonstrate how climate condition affects CO2 emissions during inspection and maintenance, across different seasons. To achieve this, CO2 emissions are estimated under varying climate conditions by integrating multiple datasets and conducting interviews with maintenance experts.
The findings reveal that seasonal variations play a critical role in CO2 emissions, with significantly higher emissions observed in cold weather due to increased fuel consumption. These insights underline the importance of accounting for climate-related factors in maintenance planning to mitigate environmental impact. The result of analysis can be used for maintenance planning strategies to reduce CO2 emissions associated with railway asse.
Keywords: Climate condition, Cold weather impact, Seasonal variation, Railway maintenance, Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
