We have snow again! Only this time it's a Saturday, so not as many people are affected, and with each spell of snow we are getting better at what we are doing, so I don't feel anywhere near as depressed by the prospect of snow this time as I usually would!
The worst point was between 0630 and 0700 this morning. It started snowing around 0600 and road conditions deteriorated very very rapidly indeed. We sent the first C1/C3 of the day out, but the driver had great difficulty in Hiltingbury and Valley Park, and that was before the traffic started compacting the snow into ice. (I spent ten minutes sat in my car in Hiltingbury Road at about 0730, dealing with Facebook, Twitter and phone calls, and it got perceptibly worse while I was sat there!)
Cutting a long story short, as I write this, the situation is stable with the C1 running between Eastleigh and Fryern Hill via the main roads only, and the A is running full route but not serving Boorley Green. This is the same plan as we implemented on the last snow day and seems to work quite well. We are also running a bonus C1 just serving Oakmount Road, with the driver briefed to interview any prospective passengers to try to get them to where they need to go!
Steve the Controller went out in the van a short while ago to test Hiltingbury, Valley Park and Velmore, and got briefly stuck in Velmore to our great amusement. Some parts are nearly ok, others a long way from being viable, bhe snow is melting quite rapidly now, and the Met Office and BBC are both predicting no further snow today, so we're hopeful that we can improve the offer this afternoon.
We could do with a quieter afternoon, because it's the Velvet Christmas Party tonight and excitement is at fever pitch! No snow disruption after 7pm tonight please!
Finally, here's a picture of some snow and a bus, just in case you needed reminding...
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