National Fail.

I will write about the lovely weekend I had in a later post, but first I feel the need to document the truly awful journey I just made in order to get back to London. You know, a typically British post in which I moan about the transport system ;)

It all began so well. I took a later train, because it was my mum's birthday and I wanted to share in the gift giving and the merriment a little while longer. I had everything planned: arrive in London, dash on over to New Cross, meet Katie outside the RHB in order to collect lecture notes and then pop upstairs in time for my seminar. I left Colwyn Bay at eleven and arrived at Crewe without a hitch. I made a run for the Euston train sitting at platform 12 and then it happened: disaster struck. The power cables were down in the Milton Keynes area and all London trains were platform-bound and waiting for the off. So we waited and we waited and we waited. Two hours later my seminar plans were looking very remote as we were ushered off the train and over to another platform, where we spread out to wait for the incoming train. One man said to his wife, 'don't stand too far down there Carol, that'll be the first class coach'. Oh, if only. The train that chugged up a few minutes later was heading for Derby and consisted of two tiny carriages, into which we duly squeezed - that's the entirety of a Glasgow-London train, on an eighty-man light load commuter. I was lucky enough to secure a seat, but those that didn't had a long two hour stand ahead of them. At Derby we shuffled onto the busiest train in existence, whereupon I stood clutching multiple bags above my head for the rest of the journey. Then six o'clock, into St. Pancras. All in all? Seven and a half hours of travelling, only three hours late for my Victorians seminar. What an adventure.

(In all fairness to National Rail, this has to be my only complaint in the course of five years worth of train-travel. They didn't cut the power lines personally and I'm sure I'll get some money back once I send off my delays form). Grumble, over and out.