§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
What were the causes of the breakdown in road, rail and air transport on 30 January following snowfalls. [HL1469]
§ The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Lord Macdonald of Tradeston)Roads: The Secretary of State has asked the Highways Agency to look into the reasons why its procedures were not effective and what steps might be taken to help prevent a recurrence in the future.
Rail: Most scheduled train services ran, albeit with some delays. The East Coast and West Coast Mainlines and commuter services north of London were worst affected due to a combination of frozen points, rollingstock and power failure and the inability of rail maintenance staff to reach affected parts of the network.
Air Transport: Most airports operated relatively normally, but Stansted and Heathrow were badly affected. The main causes were problems with aircraft de-icing; difficulties experienced by airport and airline workers in getting to airports because of road and rail problems; and aircraft being out of position because of adverse weather conditions and cancellations.