One of rail's selling-points is that it can (properly maintained) keep going when exceptionally bad weather stops normal road transport. There was a striking illustration of this in the mid-1960s. There was a pressure group named "Rail Into Road" or something similar, led by prominent motoring enthusiasts, including the designer and racing motorist Sydney Allard. Their pitch was that rail was no longer economically viable and that railway lines should be torn up and wherever practicable turned into roads. A successful media campaign led to a meeting arranged at St Christopher House, then the Ministry of Transport HQ. Unfortunately, there was a snowstorm on the arranged date, and the only representative of the group who made it to Southwark Street was Sydney Allard, who took the precaution of travelling by train.
Climate change is a reason for beefing up railway maintenance rather than an excuse for giving up on it. It seems to me that as extreme weather events become more frequent a reliable rail network is essential for economic reasons and for the cohesion of the nation. A government which allows it to fall into disrepair, either through ignorance or through bribery and bullying by vested interests, betrays both our traditions and the future of the economy.
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