I am currently writing this from a cramped and noisy train, on my way back to Uni after a nice weekend home with the family.
I decided to travel by train instead of driving the 200+mile round trip, as it would save money on petrol, and would save the wear and tear on my beloved yet rather old and fragile car. However, what I did not anticipate was the traumatising level of stress that would be experienced by travelling via train.
It is one thing for public services to offer great deals etc on prices, but what good are they when the service itself is as reliable as chocolate teapot.
Commuters are forever complaining of cancellations, delays and the abominable train service in general, and today I have realised, much to my disgust, that I have become one of them.
The odd delay I can handle, these things happen, but everybody has the right to get from one destination to another without too much difficulty.
How can it be possible to fly from one country to another without much hassle, yet to sit on a rocket on wheels can seem more stressful than moving house.
Firstly, timetabled trains get delayed, with very little warning or explanation. This is always going to cause problems to travellers. Many people will just think, oh well, I'll get the next one, but what about those that are at smaller stations with a non-regular train service? Nobody wants to wait an hour for a train if they need to be somewhere. Is it really fair that these passengers then have the option of waiting for another train, or if there isn't one, somehow finding a way of getting to a different station?
This is my story. As mentioned above, my first train from a small station called Weston Milton at 11.13, was cancelled, with very little warning. This left me with the predicament of waiting an hour for the next train, or finding a way of getting 2 miles to the main station in Weston-super-Mare in time for the 11.45 train.
This caused problems for me, as I had an advance booking on a train in Bristol at 12.23. I decided to chance the 11.45 train, hoping it would get into Bristol on time, and I would have 5 minutes to board a train to Southampton. Being such an unreliable service, I am sure you can guess what happened next. I get off the train at Bristol and see my train standing at the platform. The doors had already been closed and the guard would not let us board. I had made it just in time to wave my connection goodbye as it left without me and a handful of other passengers. Said guard very nearly ended up under said train.
I'm sure many of you can appreciate the stressful situation. As if my day hasn't been bad enough, I am now stranded in Bristol, with exams in 24 hours time. The guard advised us all to get on a later train to Brighton (which I am now on). After getting on this train and finally heading in the right direction, the ticket collector was kind enough to point out that my ticket was not valid on this train, as the reservation was pre-booked on a previous train. Of course, I'm not a moron, and I'm perfectly capable of reading a train ticket. I then had to explain to the guard my story and he let me stay.
I thought this was the end of my horror journey, and that I would be able to relax and wind down for the rest of the trip, however, this wasn't the case. A disgruntled man has just approached me and told me he has reserved the seat I am currently occupying.
My final point now is that the guard in Bristol told me to get on this train to get back to Uni, only now as I am sat on it as it trundles through the country, the driver has announced the station stops. Guess what? Southampton isn't one of them. I now have to go onto Eastleigh, and wait for a train to Winch. What would be a simple journey has turned into a hellishly complicated 4 hours long, 5 train mess.
Thank you for reading my boring rant.
Much love x
Good work - see my notes about feedback on the messsageboard. I like this blog a lot and you do go beyond the minimum - what I really like is that there are good notes and then you add other material and do a bit of research. BUT the alexa rating shows that you are 10 millionth blog in terms of traffic. You need to improve that - the best way is to go to other blogs and ask them to link to you - for example other journalism students in say the united states. You offer them link exchange - you link to them and they link to you. In that way your traffic will go up. Also as a group all the journalism students should look through everyone else's blog and leave comment - even 'read this'. That's a good way to learn and is interesting and get you traffic.
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