Old-style trains 'could cope better with cold snap'

Trains with complicated software systems are much more susceptible to ice and snow, said Rail magazine managing editor Nigel Harris.

He added that it was "outrageous and disgraceful" that passengers had been stuck overnight on trains.

He said: "These incidents were near London and in southern England. It's hardly Outer Mongolia.

"One of the problems with this kind of weather is that it prevents the moving parts of points on the track from moving.

"The points can be heated and this melts away the ice and snow but you can't have heaters on every point, and that's part of the problem."

He added that on high-speed, long-distance trains, large lumps of ice could form on the bottom of trains and these could break off.

This can lead to stone ballast being kicked up which can damage the underside of trains and, in extreme cases, shatter windows.

Mr Harris went on: "This only tends to happen at speeds in excess of 80mph and that's why companies such as East Coast have had to impose speed restrictions at the moment.

"The very sophistication of modern trains, with all sorts of software, can make them very susceptible to variations of voltage that can occur in wintry weather.

"The old slam-door trains were fairly basic in comparison but seemed to cope better."

Mr Harris said that the voltage supplied by the third rail, which provides electric power to trains, can go up and down in snowy and icy conditions.

"Modern trains just don't like this variation. The modern railways certainly seem to find it difficult to cope with bad winter weather."

He went on: "I think it's outrageous and disgraceful in the 21st century that we can have people stuck all night on trains in built-up areas in southern England.

"It's not as if the people were stuck in Outer Mongolia. These were ridiculous and shameful failures. Being involved in the rail business, these incidents make me angry and embarrassed."