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Travel chiefs 'were caught out by snow'
Dick Murray, Transport Editor2 Mar 2009
TRANSPORT chiefs received a severe rebuke in a report today over their lack of preparedness for last month's snow storms which left millions of commuters stranded.
The findings by the London Assembly transport committee conclude that despite plenty of forecasts, the capital was ill-prepared for the heavy snowfall on 2 February which halted all its 8,000 buses and suspended Tube lines. It said that efforts to keep the roads clear were unco-ordinated or left too late.
The resulting chaos cost the country more than £3 billion with London bearing the brunt.
Mayor Boris Johnson was also criticised for not getting involved earlier. He and transport minister Paul Clark will be questioned by the all-party Commons transport committee about how the snow could cause so much disruption.
Committee chairman Louise Ellman said: "We are concerned by the level of disruption to transport across the country [and the] particular difficulties experienced in the capital and we have asked the Mayor of London to attend."
The Met Office and other forecasters had warned for days that arctic weather would sweep across the country with the worst in London and the South-East.
Chaos lasted for days and Val Shawcross, head of the London Assembly transport committee, said that while some disruption was "inevitable, the evidence suggests a lack of preparation and co-ordination". She added: "The heavy snow was unusual but not unforeseen. Despite the weather forecasts, the response by some key agencies in London was a little slow."
Transport for London admits it "could have done better" and it and councils say that in the future "priority" will be given to clearing roads serving bus depots.
However, TfL's commissioner Peter Hendy said that if buses had run on 2 February they would have posed a "significant danger" of sliding into kerbs.
A spokesman for the Mayor of London said: "There is scope for better co-ordination between TfL, the emergency services and the London boroughs."
The committee also wants to know what TfL proposes to do to keep the entrances to bus garages and ambulance stations clear and whether important commuter routes have been identified to be safeguarded against severe weather.
Reader views (11)
Joe: "It really is quite pathetic to listen to this yet another socialist distraction story"
Har har, what makes me think that if Ken was the proprietor of Tfl at the time he would have been dragged from pillar to post for this by Boris supporters...
- Prj45, London, 04/03/2009 07:36
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Of course TFL were caught out by the icy conditions. They are usually caught out by the sun or the rain and sometimes even the wind, London had no chance when it began to snow.
- Mr S Port, London, 02/03/2009 17:34
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Oh, thats alright then.
- Dave Davies, Basingstoke, Hants, 02/03/2009 16:27
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Caught out by what? It snowed Sunday afternoon and evening in London. Why was no action taken over night?
- Bj, London, 02/03/2009 14:45
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It really is quite pathetic to listen to this yet another socialist distraction story. Have you ever lived in a country such as Scandinavia when the first snow falls? If you have you will know they are no better prepared on the first day or so until the snow sets in permanently and then their snow clearing preparations kick in. So let's not keep whining about a few days of snow. Additionally what do you think the far-east countries do when typhoons are in the area? They set up warning systems and when the typhoon reaches the level 8 warning everyone remains in doors no matter how long this lasts. So please grow up and focus on what really matters to the UK. Yes getting rid of doom & bust Brown and the totally incompetent Labour Government!
- Joe, Thornton Heath, UK, 02/03/2009 14:37
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Yes the situation was a shambles, but where was the London Resilience Local Authority Panel and Tony McNulty MP, Minister for London, in all this. NHS London is also in denial and appears to be busy moving A & E, maternity services; and providing trauma & acute stroke centres but the need for Resilient transport to get patients and staff reliably to and from these proposed centres is ignored even when it is pointed out to the Independent Reconfiguataion Panels
- Donald Smith, Palmers Green, London, 02/03/2009 13:18
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Human nature. They'll now prepare detailed plans for what to do if it happens again next year. The plans will then gather dust until they are lost by mis-filing or accidental disposal, and when it snows again twenty-some years from now, once again no-one will have a clue!
The only way to stop it happening again would be to have an annual or bi-annual "snow practice" event overnight in, say, September, to give all staff some experience of the plan. Of course, even this would cost money, wasted in nineteen out of twenty years.
Can't help thinking best value is the status quo - let's lose a working day once in twenty years. Leave expensive equipment and detailed preparation for places where snow is an annual event. Just go out and play with the kids when it happens!
- Nigel, London, 02/03/2009 13:14
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Hang on, I've just watched a documentary on C4 explaining how they'd been tracking the snow for at least a WEEK before it arrived .... are you telling me transport 'chiefs' don't get this info beforehand?
- Marianne, SW France, 02/03/2009 11:26
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I made my way to town on the sunday evening, when rains and buses could still work. It did cost me one night in a B&B in central London.
On the Monday morning, I was at work on time.
Yes it was a disruption of my lfe, but I have work ethcs, like most.
Why oh why did theese overpaid idiots did not think of doing the same thing?
Was it beneath them?
- Kerwood, London, Uk, 02/03/2009 11:10
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Surely its the old story! Those that put out warnings can get called scaremongers. The view many powers that be take is to wait until it happens. There are MANY in the community that take the same line but they sure shout when something serious happens.
Its a double edged sword but comes down to ignoring warnings at their peril.
- Tony Islander, Herts, 02/03/2009 11:04
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Transport for London is just a shambles. Huge salaries and bonuses are paid to staff who do very little whilst occupying some of the most expensive offices in our city. The Underground is a disgrace whilst the buses just get slower and slower. When we experienced bad weather in the middle of winter the senior management of TfL just could not cope and public transport stopped. Nobody has explained why National Express coaches and other buses continued to run. An absolute disgrace.
- Simon Ellis, London, 02/03/2009 10:51
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