Newspaper Article

[StewieG]

Hey

So i'm writing an article on the general shutdown of transport over the Xmas Period because of the snow, and i'm just wondering what people thik I should include. I want to write more on XC, East Coast and Eurostar, but I only have basic details. I'm then going to compare it to America, and namely Canada and mainland Europe where trains and transport is still operated reagardless of weather. If anyone has any useful information or details of events, then this would be great!

 

[starrymarkb]

A lot of Europe doesn't cope either - Sure the Alpine areas do, but they do in the UK too (see Aviemore) - This snow hit the lowlands, where the infrastructure isn't designed for it and the population are not experienced in driving in it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8449906.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8489669.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8448095.stm

 

[tbtc]

Do you mean the planned shutdown over Christmas (few services on Boxing day etc) or specifically to the unplanned weather related problems (that were mainly after Christmas)?

 

[StewieG]

Well, everywhere was hit hard before and after Christmas really. Eurostar as has been said was hit before and over the Christmas period, whilst FTPE, XC and EC were all hit after and some before Christmas. This isn't even going into the problems Southern suffered due to the third rail problems.

If people could explain why certain things were a problem as well, like someone has just had to tell me why ice on the OHLE would be problematic for instance

many thanks

 

[gordonthemoron]

Was on a train from Munich to Lindau last saturday (Alex=Arriva), the guard had a hammer which he used to defrost the heating under the carriages and detach the rear 5 coaches when the train split at Immenstadt.

Also, we had to wait for about 20 mins on the return for a snowplough to clear the track. However, even going, the track was completely covered in snow.

 

[the sniper]

Well, if your writing a balanced piece, you should point out that East Midlands Trains and London Midland actually performed better during the snowy period this year then they did during the same time period last year. London Midland's performance was up 4.5% on last year, admittedly, from a fairly low 78.9% in 2008. Nationally, 80% of services arrived on time during the cold snap, the figure was 89.9% last year...

Of the TOC's you mention, East Coast suffered the worst, their punctuality was down 21.2% (to 67.2%) on the same period in 2008 when their punctuality was as 88.4%. TPE's punctuality was down 14.8%, though 75% of trains were on time, and Crosscountry was only down 10% on last year, with 77% of trains on time.

As starrymarkb points out, don't believe the hype, European rail services suffered just as badly, and in some cases, worse then here.

 

[StewieG]

Well, if your writing a balanced piece, you should point out that East Midlands Trains and London Midland actually performed better during the snowy period this year then they did during the same time period last year. London Midland's performance was up 4.5% on last year, admittedly, from a fairly low 78.9% in 2008. Nationally, 80% of services arrived on time during the cold snap, the figure was 89.9% last year...

Of the TOC's you mention, East Coast suffered the worst, their punctuality was down 21.2% (to 67.2%) on the same period in 2008 when their punctuality was as 88.4%. TPE's punctuality was down 14.8%, though 75% of trains were on time, and Crosscountry was only down 10% on last year, with 77% of trains on time.

As starrymarkb points out, don't believe the hype, European rail services suffered just as badly, and in some cases, worse then here.

Thankyou for those Statistics, i've already mentioned mainland Europe, but I'm wanting to focus on British Railways, and what happened over here. But thankyou for the insight!

 

[tbtc]

As starrymarkb points out, don't believe the hype, European rail services suffered just as badly, and in some cases, worse then here.

It really annoys me when people talk about how everything runs normally on the continent but comes to a halt in the UK, when the facts are a lot muddier than that

 

[Helvellyn]

You should look at what preparations are made in North America, mainland Europe and the UK based on expected norms. I mean this in terms of the weather. Part of the issue is based on what we as a country are willing to pay for given that we don't get severe snowfalls every year.

One example I was given that Desiro trains built by Siemens can have heated couplers as standard in Europe, so that they can couple in the cold winters that are more common on the Continent. It wasn't specified on UK units because we don't usually have long spells of sub-zero temperatures.

To jump to aviation, much was made in the press of the UK airport closures and/or flight cancellations. Yet get a severe snowstorm on the Eastern seaboard in the USA and their main airports can shut for days.

Another angle to consider is contingency planning. If we get weather like we did how did the TOCs respond? How did they communicate with their passengers? How does this compare to the continent, or North America?

The press like to go on about leaves on the line in Autumn, and how this affects train services like it is a uniquely British problem. Yet I was in New York in Autumn, staying on Long Island, and they had posters up everywhere saying about the problems leaves on the line can cause and the fact that some services had planned extended journey times as a result.