Angry Tweets about his slow moving Eurostar train failed to get Europe minister Chris Bryant any satisfaction this week. As the Press Association reports, Bryant posted to Twitter a series of gripes about his slow-moving train. One gem reads, “I am rapidly developing a very severe hatred of Eurostar as we are travelling at about a mile a year.” Ouch!

Bryant is certainly not alone. Arctic weather has nearly paralysed transport in and out of the UK this week. Eurostar passengers have had particularly rotten luck with weather-related delays and cancellations dogging the service in the run-up to Christmas and now into the New Year. The iffy service has made #Eurostar a trending Twitter topic all week with stranded travelers sharing 140-character whinges and prayers to The Twitter gods. @jaunwee Tweets, “A bit of snow and #Eurostar shuts down. Stuck in Paris. At least they gave us a hotel to sleep in. In London tomorrow hopefully.”

Back to Bryant and what did he get for his high-profile groans (other than headlines in The Mirror)? A spokesperson essentially told the PA that Bryant has little choice but to deal with the slow-moving train. We’re all stuck this week.

There’s an important lesson to consider here. Eurostar smartly is being as open as it can about the difficulties of running the service under extraordinary conditions; it’s posting regular service updates on its site. Eurostar also posted a video to YouTube explaining the latest situation. Okay, the video is unwatchably dull and it’s nearly impossible to hear anything commercial director Nick Mercer is saying. Who forgot to mike the guy?

A message nobody can hear? What is the lesson then? At least Eurostar is being proactive about a really terrible situation. That should earn it a few positive Tweets. Until, the trains start breaking down again.

A (barely audible) Q&A with Eurostar