Snow brings chaos to transport network

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) February 3, 2009 -- As the worst snowstorm in 18 years hit Britain at the start of the week, London’s travel network came to a virtual standstill, with the entire bus fleet taken off the road and almost every Tube line either suspended or severely curtailed.

Transport for London (TfL) faced mounting public criticism over the way it handled – or rather mishandled – the crisis, especially as there had been five days of advance warnings of the blizzards. In particular, the shutting down of the entire bus network for the first time in living memory came under fire – as critics pointed out, bus services had continued running even during the Blitz, and also during much worse conditions in 1963, yet was now unable to cope with six inches of snow.

The main roads used by the bus routes were mostly clear, as they had been gritted by TfL, but buses could not get out of depots since the local roads that linked to the main roads were iced up, and TfL said that these were the responsibility of the local boroughs. But surely TfL’s contingency plans (which they claimed to have) should have taken this into account and included a coordinated strategy with the boroughs to clear those link roads with gritters and snowploughs.

The Local Government Association said councils could not cope with the ongoing snowfalls which covered roads as quickly as they could be cleared, rendering the gritting ineffectual.

But critics said the excuses were simply unacceptable. Susie Squire, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance pressure group, said, “Recent conditions do not merit total shutdown, and rail companies, councils and other authorities should have been able to cope. People see their fares go up and up, and yet services seem to remain at the same sub-standard level.”

London’s former mayor Ken Livingstone also said the shutdown of transport services was unacceptable, and that “borough councils, either because they wouldn’t pay overtime on a Sunday or because they have cut everything back to the bone, didn’t grit properly, even though there was plenty of advance warning”. There were also accusations that London’s private operators kept buses off the roads rather than risk passenger accidents in the hazardous conditions, and thus possible lawsuits.

The completely inadequate planning was also seen in the lack of travel information available to passengers, with the National Rail website and phone lines simply unable to cope with the increased demand.



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