A Very Unhappy Bunny
Whilst travelling from Crewe to Lancaster on Day 21 on the very overcrowded Glasgow train, I came across a very unhappy bunny. She had booked the previous Glasgow train, but had then missed it because of a tube journey that took twenty minutes longer than it should. So to get to Glasgow, she’d had to buy a new ticket at £130 and stand all the way. She was saying she wouldn’t use the train again and would fly next time. But what would have happened if she’d turned up late for her flight?
The trouble is that many expect that when they use a train, they just turn up, buy a ticket at a good price and go. If I’ve bought a cheap ticket, I always make sure I get it, although in a couple of trips, I’ve bought a new ticket to get home early. It has cost me, but I’ve got to bed a couple of hours early.
I have read that a lot of people get to the station early for their trains. The trouble is that most stations don’t cater for those, who do and then have a coffee, buy a paper and have a read. It’s why you get so many people standing in front of the departure boards at stations, blocking the path for those hurrying to get on a train. So as more people travel by train, it just means that stations will get more and more congested.
I do wonder whether this congestion, meant that the unhappy bunny, deliberately delayed until the last minute to avoid the crush.
I’m lucky in that I’m a 30 minute or under bus ride from Liverpool Street, Kings Cross, St. Pancras, London Bridge and Euston, so if I watch the buses on-line through the Countdown system, I can usually have a better experience than most. It also means, I can catch the very early morning trains before six in the morning, when everything is less crowded. But if you live more than 30 minutes from the main station and there is no all-night bus, this isn’t possible in London. that it is like in Manchester or Birmingham say, I do not know.
But to return to my unhappy bunny. She was at fault for missing the train. But in her support, getting to stations early, is often not the best experience.
The Anonymous Widower 
If the tube journey took 20 minutes longer than IT SHOULD then it’s not the passengers fault. It’s people like you that accept that trains and tubes aren’t going to run on time that train companies continue to do this. In other countries the public transport system can do it, why can’t we? Also regarding standing up on a train journey, it’s disgraceful that you pay £130 to have to stand in a toilet lobby or between seats/perched on the edge of a table. The lack of foresight by train companies in not having adequate seating for all passengers is a disgrace. Does it really matter if a carriage is half empty? Much better than having to sprawl on the filthy floor. Another issue that epitomises why this country and it’s public transport has gone down the pan.
Comment by YellowBlood | October 24, 2011 |
I didn’t have a problem on that train at all. I was using an off-peak ticket for cheapness and took the first train that came along. That line though is a disgrace and overcrowded for various reasons, some of which go back to Victorian times. If I take the train to Scotland, I always go early on East Coast and make sure I get to Kings Cross on time.
Comment by AnonW | October 24, 2011 |