small talk for a small world
Posts tagged London
Rubbish journey into work today
Jan 7th
Ok after my lovely blog yesterday where I polished the proverbial knob of the train services into London, it would seem someone at First Capital Direct read that post and decided to show me the real pain of the train service into London.
As usual I was up bright and early this morning, chasing the sun and beating it to Bedford as usual. Met my work colleague in the usual place and moved onto Bedford train station. Both trains were leaving on time, we had our eye on the East Midlands Mainline train, however the First Cap train was sitting in the station looking warm and inviting so we decided to take the ride with First Cap knowing it would be a longer journey however it would take us directly to Farringdon giving us an ample 10 minutes to make the 3 minute walk from the station to work.
Well the train seemed a little busy this morning and it seemed to be running smoothly however until it got to Harpenden, where the driver announced he would then be having to stop at every station between Harpenden and London St Pancras.
Oh the joy the journey was looking like a long one, then of course our train ground to halt just after Kentish Town as a train in front of us had broken down. So there we sat for an hour and half only to see our driver walking back to the North end of the train so we could drive back up the line to change tracks.
4 hours later I am at work.
Trains a commuter tale
Jan 5th
I have to be honest when I say that on taking a job in London I was a little nervous as I have heard many horror stories about trains and the delays and headaches they cause. First things first my commute to and from work is not a pleasure in any way shape or form, I am up out of bed 6am in the morning and I am usually standing on a train platform at Bedford station waiting for the 7:28am train to Farringdon.
This train has been delayed on a number of occasions what with recent strikes and also the cold weather causing some issues on track. The journey home is equally frustrating as it would seem that more than 50% of my journeys home so far have been delayed.
The usual course of events for getting home is to get the 18:11 train from Farringdon, jump off at St Pancras, and jump on the 18:30 train to Lincoln which should arrive in Bedford at 19:08. This train is frequently late for a number of reasons, we have had no drivers, unable to couple cars together and of course the obligatory jumper on the tracks that has delayed my journey home.
It is not all bad though, which is the main reason for writing this. We have had some serious cold weather and snow recently and the trains although late have been running. I find this pretty amazing as this goes against the preconceptions I had about trains and snow. I heard that the wrong type of snow can cause trains to just grind to a halt, however thus far I have been proved wrong.
Tonight it is going to snow and there is already snow falling in Bedford, I have been watching the trains and so far only a few have been delayed and the delay is nothing more than a few minutes. I think trains get hard press and I think most people believe they are a rubbish service and form of transport. I have to disagree, they maybe late sometimes they may get cancelled due to circumstances which to be honest can’t be helped. But in my limited experience so far they have done the job in getting me home, not always when I wanted to get home but they get me home never the less.
The only thing I would like to change is the cost, they are not cheap and to be honest when you add up the cost of driving to the station, parking and the train fare itself it would be cheaper to drive my car to London and back, however not as convenient. As I would be sat in traffic for hours on end, so delayed no matter what I do. If the government can somehow get the cost of a ticket down to those who commute regularly then trains truly are a way forward.
A new start for 2010
Jan 5th
Well it is 2010 and I decided that I need to change The Sims .co.uk. I have decided create myself a blogging site which I intend to post to as often as time will allow me to. I have also linked in my Twitter account so you can all see what I am waffling about on a daily basis.
I have started a new job in London this year and I intend to throw everything I have into my work and family in 2010. I have a real interest in the world wide web, social media and new media in general so I will be blogging a lot about these subjects over the coming year.
The next week will be me playing with this installation of WordPress and also sorting out The Sims.co.uk forums which I have recently wiped and reinstalled with a new version of Vbulletin.
I will leave this post here, but I just wanted to wish all those who stumble upon my website a Happy New Year, and I hope 2010 is a good year for you also.
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