3 Jan 2014 – 
House of Commons Transport Select Committee report: ‘Ready and waiting? Transport preparations for winter weather’
The House of Commons Transport Select Committee have published the report ‘Ready and waiting? Transport preparations for winter weather. The report recognises the progress made by Government and transport providers, however the Committee has identified a number of areas where they believe there is scope for further improvement. The Committee recommends:
- The Highways Agency should review the barriers to providing comprehensive realtime information to drivers; identify technological and other solutions for doing so, particularly during periods of disruption; and develop a strategy to implement these solutions across the strategic road network.
- The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) should ensure that train operating companies develop more robust procedures to identify how long a period of disruption is likely to last and to communicate this clearly to passengers.
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The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) should set out how it will evaluate the impact of the new airport licence conditions on passenger welfare, by Spring 2015. The CAA must also ensure that best practice on the provision of information and on passenger welfare is shared across all UK airports.
The Committee also supports pro-active decision making by the rail and aviation industries to reduce or cancel services in anticipation of a severe weather event. It believes that when used effectively, this approach would provide greater certainty to passengers and minimises their risk of getting stranded.
The report also makes the point that winter weather is about more than just snow and low temperatures, as illustrated by the ‘St Jude’ storm across southern England (on 28 October 2013) and the storm across the north of the UK on 5 December 2013. The Committee believes that the transport sector must continue to work closely with the Met Office and other forecasters to understand the challenges posed by different types of severe weather.
Finally, the Committee believes that embedding a culture of continuous review and improvement must remain a priority for both Government and the transport sector; to ensure that all modes and networks are made more robust year after year and that the sector is well placed to address further issues as and when they arise – concluding that a year or two of mild winter weather should never breed complacency or lead to a false sense of security.