1 Cranwood Street
London EC1V 9QS
020 7713 2103
07711 149167
Vince Gilbert
Head of Hertfordshire Highways
31 March 2009
Dear Vince
Winter Weather 1 – 13 February 2009
HertfordshireCounty Council Response
Many thanks for your email dated 26 March. Unfortunately due to a threatened 24 hour strike by RMT members on Monday 30 March, last Thursday and Friday I was on a two day refresher course on train dispatch. I was out of the office much of Monday – Wednesday this week and did not see your email until today.
At the Intalink Steering Group Meeting on 11 March I told John Sykes that I had been impressed with the commitment shown to keep major roads clear during the exceptionally heavy snowfalls. On Monday 2 February it was good to see buses running a near-normal service in St Albans from early morning, in contrast to the suspension of all TfL operated bus services in central London.
On Monday 2 February First Capital Connect were able to run a limited service of four trains an hour between Bedford and London, calling at all stations. We were also able to run reduced but regular services on the East Coast Mainline and on the Hertford Loop between Hertford North and Moorgate. Many customers decided to take the day off work or to work from home, so the services provided were well able to cope with demand. It was gratifying that there were very few members of staff indeed who claimed that they were unable to get to work due to the weather conditions and that reflected well on the quality of the snow clearance and road gritting in Hertfordshire.
First Capital Connect’s impression was that Hertfordshire Highways coped well with snow and ice management throughout the period from 1 – 13 February. The one criticism related to the lack of gritting / removal of ice on footpaths and this was similarly a challenge for First Capital Connect on footways within our station lease areas.
On Thursday 5 February shuttle bus services between Luton Airport Parkway station and LutonAirport were suspended until early afternoon due to the inaccessibility of the airport. The airport itself was closed while the runways were cleared and roads between the station and the airport were blocked. Luton Borough Council were unable to keep the roads gritted as they had effectively run out of salt. I am pleased that there were no similar issues affecting our services in Hertfordshire.
I have already suggested that it would be helpful to review how First Capital Connect might be able to work in partnership with Local Authorities to keep access to station forecourts and station car parks clear. Our station staff have hand gritters which are ideal for dealing with platforms and footpaths but do not have the resources to grit roadways. This is particularly important where there are bus interchanges in station forecourts and the inability of buses to access them could have a negative impact on many bus services. I have already raised this with Hertfordshire County Council’s Rail Officer, Alissa Ede.
I hope this helps and apologise for the delayed response to your email.
Yours sincerely
Larry Heyman
Integration and Partnership Manager