Asset management specialist Matthew Lugg from WSP said: “Lessons from previous winters in terms of resilience have clearly been learnt and most authorities seem to be quite well prepared and mobilised for snow.

 

“But there were challenging circumstances this time around and we saw heavy snow blowing around which makes it harder to keep roads open. There may be a need for more authorities to consider investing in snow blowers and making the most of local farmers’ equipment.”

 

He added that weather forecasting provided to authorities this year appears to have improved compared to previous years, but wondered why some people still try to make journeys when they are advised against doing so.

Anthony Smith, chief executive of independent watchdog Transport Focus, also gave TP Weekly News his analysis of how the UK’s major roads and railways fared due to the heavy snow.
 
On the major roads, he said: “It was good to see that Highways England kept much of the road network open throughout. However there were some lengthy delays, including some instances where road users were stranded in their vehicles overnight.
 
“We are already in discussion with Highways England about the way it deals with lengthy delays following long hold ups on the M1 and M3. We will press them to identify if any lessons can be learnt from the latest incidents, on the M62 and A303 in particular.”

On the railways, Anthony said: “Last week saw some passengers travelling without much problem, some facing real delays or not able to travel at all and some stuck in horrendous circumstances including being stranded on trains overnight.
 
“Passengers want train companies to be clear what trains will run, especially when bad weather is forecast; the advice issued by some train companies is therefore welcome. But blanket suspensions of service on various routes was worrying, and the industry needs to better communicate why such drastic action is necessary.
 
“A careful balance is needed between caution and the railway’s duty to get passengers where they need to go, particularly at times when travel by road may be tricky.”
 

♦ Following the snow, heavy storms battered parts of the South West, leading to damage at Dawlish station in Devon and closure of the rail line as a substantial volume of ballast was washed across a 150m length of the route.

 

This latest event follows a more serious breach of the Dawlish sea wall four years ago when heavy storms washed away foundations from beneath the tracks, closing the line into Cornwall for two months.

 

Last week the issue of rail resilience to the South West was raised at a Transport Select Committee hearing, where the Peninsula Rail Task Force chair Geoff Brown urged Government to act on a promise to deliver a long term solution to the problems at Dawlish.

 

Two days later the Department for Transport responded to a report from the Task Force published in November 2016. Government committed to upgrading the rail line and said it will look into reinstating an alternative line between Exeter and Okehampton.

 

Speaking yesterday, Geoff Brown told TP Weekly News: “We were pleased that the Government finally responded to our plan after 15 months, but the letter did not tell us anything we didn’t know already. It said Dawlish is its number one priority but we would have expected investment by now.

 

“The priority is to beef up the existing line by stabilising two areas of cliff and better protecting the sea wall, but the other discussion that needs to be had is around an alternative or secondary rail route, so that the South West doesn’t get cut off every time we have a storm.

 

“We need to see £2.3Bn invested, which is a mere pittance compared to what will be spent on High Speed 2.”