No business like snow business

I missed the snow! Seems I was very lucky and managed to escape England just before the dawn of the new ice age. It’s all thanks to Mrs Rambling’s who demanded that we go away for New Year to a romantic island location, with beaches and interesting local culture. The west side of Anglesey escaped the worst of the winter weather and by the time we caught the train back from Holyhead the world had ceased to be frozen. My wheeze has unfortunately resulted in at least a year if not a decade of celibacy, but hey ho!

I have just come back from a European Rail working group in Copenhagen where the snow did indeed fall and fall and fall. Watching snow fall through the window helped to relieve the tedium of the meeting where we were arguing on such exciting issues as contrast controls, the Newton’s that should apply to on arm train rests and the LV standard for white lines on the edge of rail platforms. Colleagues came together from across Europe and we took part in a kind of European Championships of Rail Bureaucracy.

Page after page of technical guidance was probed, prodded and probed again and at the end of two days we had made such good progress that none of us was really clear what had been agreed, what had been disagreed and what the point of living was other than to argue about the arguments we were having. It reminded me of the happier days I had spent in Anglesey over the New Year period but this time there was the crisp freshness of snow to relieve the tedium. Far better than watching repeats of Pobol Y Cwym or passing an afternoon playing ‘name that sheep’ or ‘Ewe must be joking’ (if I had space I would explain the rules to these games but they are so complicated that even Stephen Hawkins’ head would spin). Falling snow is life-affirming by comparison.

There is however a mythology perpetuated by the British media and others that we are the only country in the entire world that cannot cope with snow. In Denmark the snow came and things also slowed down: trains, buses, planes and much else was delayed. However the difference is that the locals accepted that things would be delayed because it was snowing. Think about that for a moment. Danish people are fantastically calm and wonderfully hospitable, very little actually seems to ruffle them. They have, however, accepted that trains and other public transport are not designed to cope with snow. OK, so things did keep running but there was none of the hysteria you find in Britain. Nobody demanded that the Secretary of State for Transport be sent to the Tower of London as punishment.

We have become a nation of Corporal Jones’ flapping around and panicking at the slightest idea that some things are out of the ordinary. The media slaughter everything “Death to the train operators! Death to the local authority council gritters! Death to the Head teachers for closing schools!” Perhaps the people that write these articles are deaf to reason. It was, after all, the worst snow for nearly 50 years. Imagine the headlines if councils had bought tons of grit but we ended up with another mild winter “Death to local authorities – they are wasting council tax payers money on grit!”

As for Danish trains they are not too different to our own. Most seem to be a bit newer and a bit shinier but the interiors had passenger information systems, wheelchair spaces and the like. I don’t recall seeing any accessible toilets at stations and there is nothing like the Disabled Persons Railcard. Nor do they have anything as innovative as Stations Made Easy – but then it is a unique tool that all of my European colleagues are envious of. If you haven’t used it yet give it a go – you may discover things about your local station that mean you can use it. Try this link which will take you to the exotica enjoyed at New Year.

Snow, like Mrs Rambling’s heart, eventually melts. The period in between is messy and inconvenient but luckily such events are rare. Of course people are inconvenienced, but at the same time most do their best to try to keep systems running and keep people safe. Perhaps next time we can be like our friends in Denmark and recognise that snow causes disruption but life can continue and once the snow is gone there is so much more to complain about.

Until next time.