A train driver explains the winter chaos Why snow regularly brings SBB to its knees

As soon as the first flakes fall from the sky, everything on the ground comes to a standstill: a train driver explains why a sudden onset of winter really does lead to delays and cancellations on public transport.

Snow seems to take public transport by surprise every year. The current onset of winter also led to train cancellations and delays. On Thursday evening, almost nothing worked in many places, and there were still disruptions on Friday.

Many of those affected have no understanding of the fact that snow in winter is always a challenge for public transport and SBB in particular. As soon as the first flakes fall from the sky, everything on earth comes to a standstill - at least as perceived on social networks.

Ticker on the onset of winterIn Basel, public transport on streetcars and buses remains largely suspended

While transport services and SBB have issued short messages saying they are doing their "utmost to prevent cold-related effects" and to rectify disruptions as quickly as possible, a train driver took the time to provide detailed explanations in a post on Reddit, as first reported by the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper.

Safety first, which is why train drivers drive more defensively in heavy snowfall. Because snow further reduces the already low friction between steel wheels and steel rails, the braking distance is increased. According to the train driver, the driving experience is completely different. Train drivers first have to get used to the new conditions, especially when the first snow falls.

If a lot of snow falls in a short space of time, the platforms cannot always be cleared immediately. The result: clumps of snow on the running board block the doors. Although the snow can usually be removed by opening and closing the doors several times, departures are still delayed.

Another consequence of snow on the platform is that many passengers knock their shoes off before boarding. "That's kind of you," says the train driver thankfully. However, it leads to further delays when changing passengers, for which only a very short 20 to 30 seconds are allowed in some cases anyway.

People are often upset about the problem of points freezing in winter. Most of them are now heated. However, they cannot be switched in heavy snowfall because there is too much snow between the switch and the stock rail. In addition, heaters can sometimes fail, especially during extreme weather events. This results in disruptions that affect the entire rail network.

All these minor delays can add up to major subsequent delays because connections have to be waited for at stations or there are single-track sections on the route so that trains cannot pass each other. So if a train from one direction is late, it automatically passes the delay on to the train in the opposite direction.

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Incidentally, the train driver received a lot of encouragement for his explanations. One user hoped that people would definitely read through the post. "Then they would see that the staff do their best and don't deliberately cause delays when the first snow falls."

The user doubts that everything was better in the past: On the contrary, the rail network was less busy and the stopping times were longer. And last but not least, many people back then still accepted that nature was simply stronger: "A lot of people have become accustomed to life not always going according to plan and react emotionally accordingly."