‘Robust’ plans in place for winter travel

As winter (finally) makes an appearance over more areas of the country, with a colder snap predicted for the weekend, the government is keen to reassure business and travellers that a robust plan is in place to keep transport networks moving.

With disruption to travel to be expected, the advice is to think now about what that means for winter travel plans and the affect on businesses.

The government has undertaken a great deal of work in recent years to ensure preparations for winter weather are undertaken, with key transport operators including airports, local authorities, train operators, Highways England and Network Rail, committed to having robust contingency plans in place.

Some 1.7M tonnes of salt is held in England, including emergency salt reserves at key locations throughout the country, and over 400 gritters are on standby – ready to start spreading salt as temperatures are forecast to dip below freezing. At full capacity, Highways England can have salt spread on every metre of motorway, every three hours.

Whilst on the tracks, Network Rail will clear snow and ice from junctions and tunnels day and night. To keep the railways running, six SITTs (snow and ice treatment trains) will quickly de-ice tracks with their snow ploughs, hot air blowers, steam jets, brushes, scrapers and jets for heated anti freeze and compressed air.

Airports have also been improving their winter resilience, with Heathrow and Gatwick investing £36M and £8M respectively in new snow/ice clearance fleets.

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