Snow Chaos

Posted in Tubeworker's blog on ,

On Friday 3rd, Boris said: "Across all our roads and rails hundreds of workers are on standby to ensure that, should we receive a mega deposit of snow, we are in a position to keep the capital moving

"With more than 100,000 tonnes of salt and an army of gritters, de-icers and specially adapted Tube carriages, together we will ensure that coordinated and swift action is taken to keep Londoners on the move."

But by mid-evening on Saturday 4th February, LU was in chaos.

The Metropolitan Line shut down north of Rickmansworth. There were severe delays on the Hammersmith and City and Circle lines as trains stalled and points failed. The entire Central Line went down following points failures. The Jubilee Line was also suspended. The Bakerloo was shut north of Queens Park due to stalled trains.

The only line showing a good service was the Northern Line, which was inaccurate to say the least. Last trains were running so late that they did not reach their destinations in passenger service. LU kicked passengers off trains into freezing cold Central London to try their luck with night buses.

Following a hellish evening at work, staff had to wait up to two hours for their taxi, not getting home til 5 or 6am! In some cases, staff taxis were cancelled altogether. Needless to say, LU have given no thanks or reward to staff for their sleepless nights.

Six inches of snow and all grinds to a standstill! Why don’t they create some jobs, cut the unemployment figures, invest in preparation and maintenance so that LU genuinely is ready next time? Although fiercer, colder winters are becoming the norm, LU continues to cross its fingers and hope for mild weather. They escaped criticism from the City of London this year as the snow only ruined the evenings of Saturday night revellers, about whom LU cares little. When will LU learn?

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