Cancelled trains

So far for the New Year there had not been any disruptions on south west trains.

Perhaps I spoke or thought this too soon, for on last Wednesday (January 14th), my sister and I rushed out of home to catch the 08:06 train to Waterloo.

Imagine our surprise and annoyance to find that the 08:06 was cancelled. No explanation, no apology, just cancelled. I had rushed out the house, skipped breakfast, hair a mess, make up un finished for this. I had to wait another 15 minutes in the very drafty and cold waiting room for the next train.

And of course as more and more people came to the station, the platform became very crowded. A sign as to what was to come when the train did arrive. We were all squashed, the train bursting to the brim with commuters. No one could get on for the next three stops. I couldnt wait to get off the train at Vauxhall. It was such a relief.

And I thought sarcastically to myself, "good old south west trains, my increased season ticket really has made a difference to the service."

Not getting home

So it was last Saturday - January 10th and I was in Islington visiting friends.
I decided to go home (Kingston) and go out with a girlfriend who I had not seen for a while.

I arrived at Highbury and Islington at 19:30 and all appeared well.
As soon as I arrived in King's Cross, the problems started.
There was a signal failure at Seven Sisters and the driver did not know how long we would be stuck at King's Cross. He told us to get off the train and try and find alternative routes.

So I decided to take the Picadilly line down south to Waterloo - changing at Leceister Square.But... there was a water leak on the platform so they decided to close the southbound Picadilly line.

Next I decided to take the northern down to London Bridge then take to the Jubilee line to Waterloo. Unfortunately due to engineering works, the Jubilee line was closed so that means I would have been stuck at London Bridge.

There was no now way of getting back home, down south to Kingston.

So I had to take the Picadilly line back up north to Highbury and Islington right back where I started from.

A Surprise

Well the New Year came and went and then it was back to work.
After being told we were not going to get a bonus or pay rise, I was trying to keep my expenses down to a minimum.
Imagine my surprise when I went to my local ticket office to buy my monthly season ticket. It had gone up by a whole £10, which is just over 6.2% increase.
I couldnt argue and thought that maybe the increase meant we would get a better train service.

The following posts dashed my hopes.....