The joy of commuting by trains in the UK: waking up early to check if the trains are running on time, or whether I need to plan a different route.
@neil the scary part is that they make Herculean efforts to ensure that the commuter trains run on time, because it affects the most people. (And most refund-savvy folks at that)
Travelling off-peak on trains is a disaster. Weekday afternoons services just evaporate. Weekends? Lol.
Of course, the answer is the extraction of profit, the lack of capacity and redundancy, the poor treatment of staff etc.
Glad I don't live in Leeds any more. Until recently, trains were still made out of old buses.
@neil I'm also commuting today and lucky to be far enough out to get a seat. Not sure how it will be on the DLR later
It was showing as "on time" when I left home.
Running two minutes late when I arrived at the platform.
Now delayed indefinitely, with advice to wait for the next one, assuming that that turns up.
No wonder people drive.
@neil I was once taking my bike on the train, but I ended up cycling the whole way as the train kept getting delayed indefinitely.
I messed up once! I had my folding bike with me, and the train stopped unexpectedly at Hayes and Harlington.
I had not appreciated just how far it would be to cycle from there to Westminster, but hey, I made it.
@neil like there’s never crashes or roadworks on the road.
@neil is this another case of "UK public transport used to be excellent and then Thatcher happened?"
£70 for my 45-ish minute trip to London and back today, with underground.
I prefer taking public transport, but sometimes the for-profit transport companies do make driving seem attractive. (Sure, there could be jams etc.)
@neil The fares go straight to the DfT these days, and the TOCs yet to be nationalised are paid a management fee to run the franchise.
@neil yep, I have zero expectation of being able to get rid of the car in this lifetime - despite it being an easy walk to a major train station. 🙄
@neil 😱
And as it happens, I was reading the @terrybot earlier for a post, and this one came up:
I must confess the the activities of the UK governments for the past couple of years have been watched with frank admiration and amazement by Lord Vetinari. Outright theft as a policy had never occurred to him.
-- (Terry Pratchett, alt.fan.pratchett)
@neil apropos of rail journeys costing ~£70, though not involving London, obviously 😄
They've found the train!
Oddly enough, it was on the line where it was last seen.
So a few minutes late.
It was "due to the driver resetting a piece of equipment while stopped at Pewsey".
So perhaps they had to turn the train off then on again.
@neil Yeah, have had it happen too, that the manager would tell us on the intercom that the driver was about to reboot the train. Computers were a mistake.
@whvholst @neil When the new trains were brought in on Thameslink, the drivers regularly had to reboot the trains at St Pancras in order to let the doors open. Don't know if it's true, but someone said it was because they had a safety feature which would only let the doors open when the train's GPS said it was at a station, and that part of St Pancras is underground 🤦♂️
@neil Damn trains getting up and wondering off. So unreliable.
@neil flashbacks to the one time I had to get a season ticket and the reactions of the other people in the queue while I was making a £10k+ card transaction.
It was expensed in that case, but, whew
@neil so obviously the solution will be more subsidies for automakers
@neil same in Germany 😅
@neil And don't forget to pray it doesn't fall apart in the small time between you leaving the house and arriving at the station.
@gilester45 Aha, it was you who jinxed it! I thought as much :)
@neil Haha oops. To be honest I often forget to check GWR on my London office days, I just arrive at the station and play Russian Roulette with the departures board. Then swear loudly if my usual 0600 is delayed.
@neil Or indeed running at all, since it rained heavily last night, so chances are the track will be flooded AGAIN.
