Commuter misery during spells of bad weather may be reduced thanks to procedures by Scotrail.
Scotrail has announced a number of procedures it has put in place to help reduce commuter misery if forecasted snow and ice appears over the next dew days.
The carrier has altered its webpage to a simple, low-bandwidth design with a view to accommodating up to seven times its usual traffic during times of winter travel chaos and disruption.
High pressure water lances have been deployed to remove compacted snow and ice from beneath train carriages, as the substances can fall onto the track, bouncing back up to the mechanisms and causing damage that then has to be repaired. Hot air blowers and specially-designed skirts have been successful at defrosting the trains during trials and Scotrail has plans to roll them out where necessary.
Contractors will be drafted in to keep platforms and stations clear of the heavy and drifting snow that is expected, while high-visibility staff members will be deployed to hubs such as Edinburgh Waverley, Aberdeen and Glasgow Queen Street to ensure passengers' safety.
However, holiday insurance policyholders looking to travel over the next few days might see trains running with fewer carriages, as the aforementioned damage sustained during previous spells of adverse weather is still being repaired.
The
Met Office predicts heavy snow - up to 20 cm in some places - across Scotland and much of England and Wales tomorrow (Thursday December 16th) when a band of sleet, rain and snow will fall during the early hours, before moving down the country throughout the day, while similar conditions could last until Friday.
By Anne Jones
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