London Transit Crippled by Snowstorm

[WMATAGMOAGH]

London got about 4 inches of snow today, which is very unusual for that city.  As a result, travel is a mess and most businesses, schools, etc are closed.  At one time, all London bus service was suspended and all London Underground lines, with the exception of the Victoria Line which is all underground, are experiencing service suspensions on some of the above ground sections and major delays elsewhere.


From the TfL homepage:

  TfL travel advisory - winter weather conditions 02 February 2009

As a result of heavy snowfall overnight, transport services in London continue to be severely disrupted today.  The following bulletin summarises how TfL services are currently operating and further updates will be provided throughout the course of today. 
In light of the further snow falls expected this afternoon, TfL is advising passengers to leave plenty of time for their journeys and, where possible, to stagger their travel home through-out this afternoon.

London Underground is operating services across much of the Tube network and a number of bus routes are now operating in to and out of Central London. However, with disruption expected to continue through-out today, passengers are reminded to check before travelling, consider whether their journeys are necessary and allow more time for their journeys.

TfL advises passengers to check before travelling via the following options:

• The TfL website  The London Travel Info 24hrs telephone helpline: 020 7222 1234  BBC Ceefax, page 436, or ITV's Teletext, page 164  Information on posters, leaflets and service boards at Tube stations  Local media news and travel bulletins.
  

London Buses
A number of bus routes are now operating in to and out of Central London however the majority of services currently remain suspended at this time and will only resume when road conditions allow and it is safe to do so.

We are endeavouring to increase the number of buses operating throughout the day. There are currently some buses running on routes 21, 36, 58, 60, 79, 83, 92, 94,  115,  126, 136, 160, 162, 171,  208,  212, 233, 256, 286, 308, 370, 427, 428, 488, 492, 607 and RV1.

The vast majority of London's bus services operate along local authority maintained roads - 95 per cent of the roads network in London -  which have been particularly affected by the heavy snowfall.  We are working with the local boroughs to ensure that they can do all they can to clear the roads around bus garages, so we can run services again.
London Underground
Current Tube services are outlined below. London Underground will continue to run as many trains as possible though a number of lines are likely to face in-going disruption throughout the remainder of today. 

For the latest status please check Live travel news.

TfL Road Network
TfL is responsible for maintaining about five per cent of London's road network with local authorities responsible for the remainder of roads within London. Gritters were out on the TfL road network throughout Sunday and overnight to ensure that carriageways were kept as clear as possible and will be out throughout the course of today.
DLR and TfL London Overground
Services are running to all destinations on the DLR with minor delays. London Overground is operating with severe delays. 

Tramlink
All services are currently suspended.
Ferry Services
There is currently no service on the Woolwich ferry. Thames Clippers are operating with delays. City cruises are running a service from Westminster to Tower Hill only.

A spokesperson for Transport for London said:

"In light of the further snow falls expected this afternoon, TfL is advising passengers to leave plenty of time for their journeys and, where possible to stagger their travel home through-out this afternoon.

"London Underground is now operating services across much of the Tube network and a number of bus routes are operating in to and out of Central London. However, with disruption expected to continue through-out today, passengers are reminded to check before travelling and consider whether their journeys are necessary."

"The biggest difficulty today remains road conditions which are extremely dangerous and drivers should take extreme care.

"Gritters were out across the TfL road network throughout yesterday and last night to ensure that carriageways were kept as clear as possible in what can only be described as extremely challenging conditions.  Gritters will remain out on the TfL road network throughout the course of today."

[Perry]

I love how polite their service advisories are. 

[WMAveteran]

Thank you.  This story was all over the news today.  Actually they had about 8 inches of snow in the last couple of days which is more snow than London has seen in 20 years.  We finally see a city that has more trouble than the DC area coping with snow.

[WMATAGMOAGH]

I love how polite their service advisories are. 

Perry, if you (or anyone else) hasn't read this yet, you'll get quite a kick out of it, it is about Tube announcements: http://solo2.abac.com/themole/#heroes