Thursday 27 May 2010

Another one

Only a week after the last train cancellation, I just received an SMS alert that my evening train has been cancelled today. Luckily, it came in just as I was about to pack up. Goody. Another night that I can't tuck my little one in bed because of a signalling failure. So glad I pay 15% of my annual earnings for this. C'mon, East Midlands. Get it together.

Wednesday 26 May 2010

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Thursday 20 May 2010

Asinine

The travel mayhem continues. According to the web, it wasn't a
platform fire, but vandalism. Who steals a cable? And how does one
learn to do that without getting electrocuted? Do they sell these
things at car boot sales?

Luckily for me, I noticed a train that would get me home if I left
work right then. So I hotfooted it out the door just in time and
flopped into a seat just opposite a fellow commuter doing the same. We
are smelly, but we made it. Pity the poor souls who didn't check the
Internet in time or couldn't dive out of work an hour early. The train
is only half full, so I'm guessing that the normal travellers didn't
spot this new train on the schedule. Either that or they were so angry
this morning that they gave up and went home to crawl under the
covers. I wonder who's the smarter?

Had it up to here

"The 07:35 has been cancelled due to a platform fire."

I didn't know that platforms were flammable.

The 08:42 was also cancelled. I managed to cram myself onto the already full non-direct train along with everyone else from my train and do the Picadilly Dash across the entire station within the 3 minutes before the connecting train departed. There may have been casualties...I had to throw a few little old ladies into the gap to clear the way, and bounced pinball style off of a formation of chubby people on the travelator, but I made it. Not bad in heels. 

Luckily, I made it in time for the meeting that I had been trying to set up for four months. It went very well, and I feel that I can relax on the train home. Now if I can only find a seat...

Tuesday 18 May 2010

Pyoo

You know those pictures of the people in India hanging out of train
doors and windows? At least there's a chance for air circulation in
there. Seriously.
You'd never know it was a cool spring day outside, one of the first
that might allow one to walk around in short sleeves. In here, it's
sweltering and all I can smell is the 3-piece-suited buttcrack in my
face and the pits adjacent. I'm pretty sure I'm giving back as good as
they are giving as well.
Two hours with no water and fetid air on a delayed train. I'm
contemplating offerings to the train gods. With one hand they giveth
and with another they taketh away. How I've missed you, British Summer
Time!

Wednesday 5 May 2010

Hmph

Why does everyday etiquette not always apply on the train? I'm hardly
Miss Manners, but I'm constantly surprised by this.
On both of my journeys today, I had to stand up for at least an hour.
In the morning, it was because the previous northbound train had been
cancelled, leaving 6 carriages of people to squeeze into 2.
I refuse to participate in the frenzied shove fest to get on the
train, so was left to stand. Why will the English queue for anything
given half the chance, but elbow people that have been waiting on a
platform for longer to get on the train? It's a very strange cultural
blip.
This afternoon, I gave up my seat for a dad who was struggling to keep
himself upright in the crowded aisle while juggling a toddler. Nobody
else offered, including men and women of varying ages. Apparently rude
doesn't have a demographic.
I suppose I should be less angry with the people on the train, and
reserve my frustrations for East Midlands Trains. However, I thought
that one of the things that this country was supposed to be most proud
of was it's unfailing grace in the face of adversity. Sod that. It's
every traveller for herself.