snow chaos in London
Good morning.
It is a little early, e.g. just after 7 am on a Monday. Meetings scheduled from 8 am this morning and I am stuck at home.
Not too bad you might think. It is warm, espresso machine working, breakfast, cats keeping me company, but I cannot get the work done that is needed.
Why? Because the public transport system in London/England broke down due to snow. Is that normal?
For over a week they keep telling us that the Russian Arctic sends us cold chills and snow to Kent. For over a week they speak about SEVERE and EXTREME weather warnings. And, for over a week, they could have prepared for it.
Why am I surprised? Because, born in Germany married to a Scottish lassie, we don’t understand that a few inches of snow bring the whole London transport system to a halt. All tube lines that have overground tracks are partly suspended and my trains from Kent are not running at all. Websites are not available, and phone numbers experience high amount of calls.
I believe for me, the worst thing is that there is nothing you can do but wait. Being a bit impatient by nature, maybe a good way to learn patience. However, the meeting at 8 will most probably be canceled. Who knows where everyone else is anyway.
Besides, whilst having a rant, SouthEastern which is my rail service provider, is having a monopoly in the South East. What I mean by that is that there are no alternatives. No buses that are running and no other train services. So no choice, really?!
I keep you posted, watch my twitter update.
Haha, you are right on this one.
They allegendly do not prepare for situations like that as they rarely happen. Guess it is similar to the recession, it hardly happens, everyone sees it coming but there is nothing we can do about it, isn’t it 🙁
Boris Johnson has taken London Public Transport to the worse condition ever. Budget cuts, staff layoffs, you name it. Got a bike this weekend just so I can stop relying on this transport network suitable for a third world country. I would imagine that could happen in Spain where snow is a very rare condition…but London? It is not like it is the caribbean is it?