As Europe bakes, Eurostar orders trains that can cope with 55C heat | CNN Business

London —

Eurostar has specified that its new fleet of trains must be able to withstand sweltering temperatures of 55 degrees Celsius, or 131 degrees Fahrenheit, as it gears up for a radically altered European climate over the coming decades.

The company, which operates high-speed trains connecting a handful of northern European cities, including London, Paris and Brussels, initially ordered up to 50 new trains that could handle temperatures of 45 degrees Celsius (113 Farenheit).

But intensifying heatwaves across the world’s fastest-warming continent have prompted a rethink.

A Eurostar spokesperson said in a statement to CNN on Friday that the firm has asked manufacturers to equip the new trains, worth a collective €2 billion ($2.3 billion), with air conditioning units capable of working in heat up to 55 degrees Celsius.