TFL - WTF?

They're not out of step with most other places though. We've been told to make up the hours or take it as a flexi day.

That's ridiculous! How were they suposed to get to work if they didn't live within walking distance of their work?

WBS

I think it's terrible - TFL pulled all services, so how could the workers get into work?

I would be very peed off if I was a tube/bus worker.

I've just got an email from work (London NHS Trust) saying pretty much the same thing

"Some [staff] were unable to get to work because of the adverse weather conditions and I would like I would like to remind staff of the Trust's guidance on responsibilities when travelling to work is not possible because of problems beyond employees control, and I enclose a copy of HR guidance.

i find it have to have sympathy tbh. the snow was forecast well in advance, and a number of people made the effort to get to work (SLD with her long walk springs to mind). we as a nation seem to be turning into total wusses when it comes to this kind of thing. people just did not prepare for it, despite the warnings. time was that if you didnt go to work for any reason, you werent paid, and this has changed over the years to the point where salaried employees are generally paid for being off sick etc. i really do think that this has led to a shrugging shoulders type of attitude, and a particuarly negative attitude from certain sectors of public services (ie schools).

last monday i drove madam to work because there was a fair amount of snow on the side roads - the main roads and mways were totally clear. by lunchtime the side roads were clear too, yet, of all the people in her office, only about 10% came in. on tuesday, i saw reports on the morning news that birmingham was "paralysed" by snow, yet, the webcams showing the road netowrk around birmingham proved it to be totall bollocks. so i stuck the emergency stuff in the car (in the snow chains just in case it did actually get bad) and off i went. again, no issues whatsoever, and by lunchtime, most of the snow had melted completely. i had the fastest drive ever down to birmingham due to the fact that so many people stayed at home but in reality, there was absolutely no need for them to do so. so, i blame the combination of the media, and people being a bit pathetic about it all.

But hold on - TFL is saying the snow was severe enough to cancel every bus in London for most of the day, and most of the tubes. How exactly did it expect its staff to get to work - fly? Oh, hold on, flights were cancelled too.

I agree that the reaction to the weather was disproportionate, but it's TFL's problem, frankly, if it's not able to cope with heavy snow. I could have got to work if I'd walked - in those conditions it would have taken me an hour and a half, and with no guarantee I wouldn't have had another hour and a half's walk home.

Well, I awoke on monday morning to radio reports (subsequently confirmed online) that there was no bus service operating anywhere in London. OK, I can walk 30 mins to the train station, but then there were no trains running through the city and out to the north, and no service on the northen extremity of the northern line. Short of walking 13 miles each way, I'm not sure what else I could do.

I decided not to become part of the problem. I hope this doesn't classify me as wussy or pathetic.

but you run for miles for fun, why couldnt you walk to work? ?

Nick, we've been through this how many times in the last week? ?

We live in an area of London with truly excellent public transport in normal conditions, 25 bus routes go from within 2 minutes walk, there are two different overground lines wihtin 5 mins walk, and several tube stops a short bus ride away.

BUT:

All the buses were cancelled.

There were no tubes running from anywhere I could have walked to, to anywhere I wanted to go.

No overground trains on our lines.

It would take me 2 hours to walk in good conditions.

We had 6" of snow. I couldn't physically have moved my car even I've had wanted to. I also looked on the BBC webcams for the roads I was aiming for whihc showed that most of the A road was closed and the rest was full of people crashing into each other.

If I had been on duty in A&E I would have got up at 4am and tried to walk in I guess. But as I wasn't, and nobody died from having chlamydia for one extra day, I didn't. As it was, our clinic was closed - as no staff or patients could get there.

I have no idea why I feel the need to justify myself to you ?

I feel less sympathy for TFL than I ordinarily would thanks to my two and a half hour commute this morning thanks to a South Ken signal failure. Chuds. I think I would have been better off walking the 26 miles!

Nick - I was meant to be working in London on Monday. I left my house 30 mins earlier than usual to get to the train station to get the train.

There were no trains - none.

What was I meant to do?

Luckilly I could conduct my interviews by phone, but they were all delayed as the people I was interviewing worked in London, most commuted by tube and couldn't physically get there - some did walk, but it just wasn't possible for others.

no i know and appreciate that it just wasnt physically possible for lots of people to get there. but why should an employer be penalised by having to pay for the services of employees that havent been given? no problem if you can work from home of cours.e

I'm not working at the moment but if I had been still in my previous job, I would have been in the same position.

I get a bus to a tube station near the top of the northern line. OK, I could have walked the 2 miles to the tube but then there were no tubes running.

I couldn't get my car out of the driveway as the drive slopes towards the house and it was impossible to move (and I couldn't leave my car in the street overnight either due to a local issue).

My office was 13 miles from home. Walking would not have been practical or possible.

None of this would have been an issue if public transport had been running even a limited service.

Judging from reports of the city boys that did make it in to work, they decided that the economy could take care of itself for a day and spent most of their time building snowmen and challenging the neighbouring investment bank to a snowball fight. ? By tuesday the city was up and running again.

Given that this was one day (out of a period of almost 20 years), I'm tempted to give people the benefit of the doubt.

But when the employer in question is the one who decided to cancel all the services that could have got people into work, don't you think it's a bit rich for them then to penalise their staff???

Because, in the case of TfL, it was because they couldn't/wouldn't provide any services that their staff couldn't get in.

A vicious circle but would the staff have been in if the servcies were running?

Exactamundo.

Nick - do you have any idea at all how pissed off I'd have been if I had missed my marathon owing to breaking an ankle slipping on ice walking to work? ?

Surely one of the main factors which led to the breakdown of various transport networks (inc TFL) was the fact that train/bus/tram/tube drivers and ticketting staff didn't make it into work. So, I don't think it's entirely fair to point the finger at TFL as if they have been the author of their own misfortune. Who';s to say what kind of service may have been put in place had their been the adequate number of staff on hand to deal with the weather-specific challenges, plus to actually drive the goddamn transport in the first place.

Tfl were the ones that took the decision to ground all buses in the capital. Up to that point there was no shortage of vehicles or personnel to keep everybody (transport workers included) moving.

But then I believe that decision was made with the best intetntions of public safety, as most roads had not been adequately gritted by local councils.

But they in turn were limited by the resources they had available to them (within tightening budgetary constraints) and it was an exceptional "weather event".

And now I'm rambling . . .

Hmmm.

I'm of the "If you don't go to work, don't expect to be paid" persuasion. Where employees were sent home having attended, they should be paid.

Where it was impossible to get in, employees should be offered the chance to take the day as paid holiday, take it unpaid, or arrange to work the time back - I'd also argue in favour of this money being paid in advance, even if the employee is only able to do an extra hour a week over a number of weeks for example.