January Snow? A Surprise to Transport Chiefs

Here we go again. Following on from the 23-mile traffic problems on the M4 and the Chancery Lane tube crash, the South East of England was hit by a snow storm. Not an unexpected event in January and one that the weather forecasters got right two days ago. Nevertheless, snow on the ground brings the South East to a halt. Even the Underground was hit (strange, but true).

I was in a taxi on my way home last night from central London and many of the main routes seemed to have been missed by the gritting teams. Still, my taxi driver was able to get me home safely which is more than the poor souls on the M11 who spent upwards of twenty hours trapped on a snow-swept, frozen motorway going nowhere [BBC].

Why is it that weather treats commuters so badly? Wrong leaves, wrong snow, frozen points, iced snow-blocked roads? Not one of these weather conditions should be a shock to the transport planners. Sadly, I don’t understand. I suspect bad planning (incompetence, even) and I doubt things will change. Has the past week been exceptional or is this really how it is and I have just got to the point where I feel I should write about it? Let’s hope next week brings relief from public transport woes.

On this day…