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

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