MPs want rail firms fined for winter failures

Too many passengers were left without any information about when they were likely to be able to travel in the heavy snow and freezing temperatures last November and December which brought the country to a virtual standstill at a cost to the economy of £280m a day, the Transport Select Committee says.

It also urges the Government to spent an extra £10m on computers at the Met Office to offer more accurate long-term forecasts as MPs say that “more can and should be done” to ensure the UK’s transport network is better able to cope with the heavy winter and freezing temperatures now seen over the past three years.

Airports come in for criticism after grinding to a halt in the heavy snow, leaving thousands of passengers stranded, and the MPs say they “under-invested” in preparations. The report says Heathrow was “totally unprepared” to recover and calls on the Government to appoint a “snow supremo” to oversee plans for dealing with the weather at airports.

Calling for “modest” investment to better prepare the transport network, committee chairman Louise Ellman said more should be spent on the Met Office to improve forecasting.

“Ministers must look again at the resources available to the Met Office,” she said, saying that current seasonal predictions “do not provide a firm basis on which decision makers can act with confidence”.

“Given the huge cost of winter weather disruption to the economy – some £280m per day in transport disruption alone – the £10m suggested by [Transport Secretary Philip] Hammond would be a small price to pay to improve the Met Office’s long-range forecasting capability.”

The report follows an inquiry into the impact of the weather in November and December 2010 which brought Britain to a standstill for the third successive year.

As roads, railways and airports ground to a standstill in the heavy snow and sustained sub-zero temperatures, there were widespread complaints from passengers about poor information.

“The rail industry needs to do far more to look after the interests of passengers during periods of disruption,” says the report. “Culture change is urgently required – the legacy of privatisation cannot be used to excuse the continuing inability of train companies to provide accurate information to passengers about delays and cancellations.

“We fully support the Office of Rail Regulation’s initiative to clarify responsibilities for providing accurate information. This should be achieved by next winter – failures in information provision should cost the firms responsible money.”

Anthony Smith, chief executive of rail customer watchdog Passenger Focus, added: “Passengers will be pleased to see this report acknowledges many of the information failings that happened during the snow disruption in December. Failing to provide information at times of disruption is the number one cause of anger and upset on the part of passengers.”

The report also recommends airport operators should be able to reclaim the cost of looking after stranded passengers when airlines fail, better online advice about tackling problems and calls for a high profile campaign to get more motorists to take precautions for driving in winter weather.

The Association of Train Operating Companies said: “Throughout the period of snow in December, a high proportion of trains continued to run and the majority of these got in on time. We understand passengers’ frustrations where there was disruption and apologise where things could have been done better.

“We recognise that the industry needs to get consistently better at providing information to passengers when there is disruption. Operators, together with Network Rail, have been and will continue to invest heavily in improving information.”

Virgin Atlantic Airways’ chief executive, Steve Ridgway, said: “We are not surprised at the criticism levelled at (Heathrow operator) BAA in this report. This was a disastrous situation, with the world’s busiest international airport shut for a prolonged period at a crucial time of year, and this must not be allowed to happen again.”

A BAA spokesman “rejected” the claims that Heathrow was “totally unprepared to recover from any major incident which necessitated its closure”. He said new processes will keep passengers updated during delays and added that £50m has been allocated to invest in improving the airport’s resilience.