IRTE Events

Snow on the Southern Railway

David Quarmby CBE used his experiences at London Transport, including some six years as MD of buses, to illustrate his presentation on the performance of the Southern Railway during winter 2010/2011.

He began by outlining the condition of the railway prior to the snowfall, explaining how a limited number of de-icing trains patrolled the third railway system. Quarmby then detailed developments in technology and actions taken to deal with the crisis, before highlighting some other methods which could possibly be used to overcome the effects of such unexpected weather. These included the use of an overhead wire system, and the passing of a heated electric current through the conductor rail.

Quarmby finished by explaining that Southern was well aware of the disruption to its passengers, and had been working on ways to improve the service at times of bad weather.