Committee
Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee 08 March 2011
08 Mar 2011 · S3 · Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee
Item of business
Transport (Severe Weather)
David Simpson (Network Rail)
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Closures fell into two categories: one was planned closures and the other was unplanned closures. That second category involved situations in which the volume of snow overwhelmed the network, despite ploughing and other activity. For safety reasons, we took the decision to close routes until safety could be put back in place by ploughing and clearing lines. Those situations were few and far between. Routes in the far north of Scotland and one or two in the central belt suffered from those unplanned closures during the cold spell, but largely we were fairly successful in keeping the network open.We also had what I term planned closures, which were driven by our key route strategy. The strategy recognises that in the conditions that we experienced it is impractical to expect the whole network to be open as normal. Therefore, we took some difficult decisions to focus on the busiest routes and majority flows, knowing that some communities would suffer from the strategy by losing services for some time. That meant deploying staff to key junctions—through the key route strategy we had staff out 24/7 at 58 key junctions across the network to keep the routes open. We deployed those teams as the conditions changed over the prolonged period of cold weather to try to restore more of the network as time passed by. That strategy, which had been agreed in advance with the train operators, is one of the things that we will review for this coming winter to see to what extent we can extend routes that are open in the severe conditions compared with last winter.
In the same item of business
The Convener (Patrick Harvie)
Green
Good afternoon. I welcome you all to the fifth meeting in 2011 of the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee. I remind members, witnesses and...
Ron McAulay (Network Rail)
I have a brief opening statement on behalf of First ScotRail and Network Rail.Thank you for inviting us to appear before you and for the opportunity to make ...
The Convener
Green
I suggest that we proceed with questions. Further written evidence can be handed out a little later rather than disrupting things at the moment.
Ron McAulay
I will close my remarks at that then.
The Convener
Green
Okay. I open the questions by asking about the extent of closures across the rail network during the severe weather and in the period afterwards. What were t...
Ron McAulay
During the period of severe weather, we adopted what was called a key route strategy. My colleague David Simpson will take you through that.
David Simpson (Network Rail)
Closures fell into two categories: one was planned closures and the other was unplanned closures. That second category involved situations in which the volum...
The Convener
Green
How far in advance are you able to make the plans for planned closures? Are they based on forecasts or on actual events as they unfold?
David Simpson
They are based on both. The plans exist; they are agreed way in advance. We spend a lot of time with industry partners preparing for winter. It is fair to sa...
The Convener
Green
Some people have suggested that the possibility of penalties for services that do not run or that run late is an issue that could have contributed to the pro...
David Simpson
No; that is certainly not the case. All the decisions that we took jointly with our customers were based firmly on what was best for the passenger. We took s...
Ron McAulay
The mindset was very much about keeping people and trains moving.
The Convener
Green
Obviously, you cannot predict how severe a winter will be and it would be strange if there were nothing that with hindsight we might wish to have done differ...
David Simpson
In the review we are concentrating on three areas, the first of which is the infrastructure’s resilience to the extreme conditions that we experienced. Acros...
Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD)
LD
I am particularly interested in the key route strategy as it seemed to impact quite significantly on my constituents in the north-east of Scotland; it certai...
David Simpson
You are quite right to observe that some operators chose not to go west of Edinburgh but I must draw a distinction between the key route strategy, which keep...
Alison McInnes
LD
In correspondence with me, East Coast and CrossCountry cited the key route strategy as the reason for their disruption and did not say that they had made tho...
Ron McAulay
It is worth emphasising that the reasoning behind the key route strategy is the need to keep as much as possible of the network open and available for people...
Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab)
Lab
Mr Simpson, you mentioned point heaters. With the severe weather warning, were all your point heaters switched on well in advance? Did they all function cont...
David Simpson
We have a programme of pre-winter checks, which includes point heater operation. We perform those checks in a variety of ways, including aerial surveys with ...
Charlie Gordon
Lab
Were there any problems with point heaters in the vicinity of Edinburgh Waverley?
David Simpson
Largely speaking, the point heaters were checked and were operational. However, as I mentioned earlier, the volume of snow and ice that we experienced often ...
Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP)
SNP
How much of the country is covered by heated points?
David Simpson
The whole country. The odd private freight depot or siding may not have them but they are standard on main line routes—the passenger network.
Rob Gibson
SNP
Including up to Thurso and Wick?
David Simpson
Yes, although I draw a distinction because on the far north lines, some of the points are hydraulically operated and therefore work by the train, so there is...
The Convener
Green
I have some final questions for Network Rail on the provision of information to passengers. People understand that the weather cannot be wished away and that...
David Simpson
We have huge sympathy with that observation. We all use the network frequently, and we all get frustrated if we are trying to get from A to B in those condit...
The Convener
Green
The provision of real-time information online—whether people are seeing it at their desk or on their phone—is hugely valuable but only if it is updated with ...
David Simpson
That point is fully acknowledged. I am aware how frustrating it is if the board looks as though services are running normally when they are not, and if train...