Swedish public transport in disarray due to snow chaos

By Leila Nezirevic

LONDON (AA) - Sweden's weather forecaster SMHI has issued weather alerts and warned of disruptions, as snow continues to fall over large parts of the country.

Flights, trains, and other forms of transport have all been severely affected by the heavy snowfall causing cancelations.

In large parts of Stockholm County, SMHI on Monday issued an orange warning for snowfall while yellow warnings apply in parts of Uppsala County, easternmost Gotaland and Svealand, Vastra Gotaland County, Kalmar County, and Skane.

The cancelations will continue into Tuesday with Stockholm particularly hit hard by the snowstorm where many regional trains were canceled in advance on Monday morning.

Due to the snow, most bus tours in Stockholm County have been canceled, where another 30-40 centimeters (around 12-16 inches) of snow is expected to fall by the end of Monday evening, local media Expressen reported.

The snow removal operators have been working hard overnight to get snow under control, but several machines were reported to be damaged during the previous night's thunder, according to media outlet SVT.

“It seems to be getting worse and worse. There are problems above all in the northern and southern parts of the county right now,” said Andreas Stromberg, acting section manager and press manager at the Traffic Administration, Region Stockholm, it said.

“It is clearly noticeable that the winter is here,” said Katarina Wolffram, the spokesperson of the Swedish Transport Administration, according to the outlet.

The snow chaos and public transport halts have paralyzed Stockholm over the years causing kilometer-long queues and forcing people to stay at home.

Press manager Bengt Olsson at the Swedish Transport Administration said he believes that Stockholm's inability to cope with heavy snow is due to 1,600 switches in the train traffic that must be brushed clean of snow, SVT reported.

“It has come somewhere between 30-40 centimeters, which is quite a lot by our standards. When it comes in many places at the same time, then it becomes a challenge,” he said.