Sitting here this evening looking at the snow outside I can only wonder why people assume we can prepare for snow (in great quantities). From Eurostar to cries of where are the gritters
people don't seem to realise the inordinate cost of preparing for extremely unusual winter weather. No amount of saying why havn't we learned from February
will actually undo the fact that February 2009 was a very unusual event.
I understand that it is very frustrating being trapped in a snow-bound car or being perpetually delayed by Eurostar, but the fact that you were not delayed last week, or last month, or last year explains exactly why you are delayed. Yes, Sweden, Norway, Finland et al. cope: but they get similar conditions every year. For weeks at a time, not just for a few days in December. I'm sure if you were all asked to pay for the level of preparedness required you would scoff at it - I would - but if you want that it costs. A lot. In Scandinavia the costs of not so preparing is more than the (high) cost of preparing. In the United Kingdom it is not so.
Returning to Eurostar, there are two reasons - as I see it - why their problems were so acute. Foremost amongst these is the extreme weather (and yes, it is the wrong type of snow, really!). Eurostar did plan for snow - just not that much, in such huge quantities. To do so would have been unnecessarily expensive. Second is the simple fact that I do not believe that Eurostar ever believed they would lose the use of the entire tunnel for any great period of time. Yes, they planned for the occaisional train breaking down and the occasional planned (and unplanned) engineering work. But in all those cases they could run at least a reduced service. Practically, there is little they could do to prepare for such an extreme loss of service - short of keeping a fleet of buses in the wings, at excessive cost, on the off chance they might need them.
My opinion is simple: rather than moan about the snow we should just calm down, and be a bit practical. Walk to work? Carry a shovel in the car? Just plan your journey a little? Go on - its not the end of the world, only frozen water.