What is it with this country and its collapsing infrastructure?
Journey 1: Crewe to Hereford: uneventful
Journey 2: Hereford to London
Change at Newport. Get off train. "No London trains are stopping at Newport. Get back on the train, go to Cardiff and await orders." Go to Cardiff. All trains cancelled or severley delatyed (signalling problems). Platform announcements and display boards in WELSH! Much conferring among passengers.
Train shows up and we are told it will go non stop to Lond. Fab. It stops at Newport (!) ("Hey I left here 90 minutes ago") but frustrated passengers on station are reufsed entry ("not a scheduled stop"). Angry faces at window and much shouting at rail staff. Train crawls out of station and then stops as the tunnel ahead is blocked. 45 minutes of sheep watching follow
. Arrive London at 9.30 p.m. (original arrival time was 7.00)
Journey 3: Euston to Runcorn
7.17 train cancelled
8.17 train delayed
Train leaves at 9.05 (signalling problems)
Train stops at Watford Junction (someone had decided to end it all, entrails on the track)
Arrive Runcorn midnight (scheduled time was 10.00)
Station car park locked so Nickmobile inaccessible.
Phone calls eventually produce a grumpy security guard who lets us (about 20 irritable sods) get our cars.
Arrive home 1.45 a.m.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
