Britain Under Siege

I have finally got home. 12 hours since I started my journey from King's Cross station in London to my home up in the North of England. It was chaos everywhere. There was hardly any train leaving Kings Cross. The management was totally not in control. Information was changing by the minutes, and even by the seconds.

After queuing for about 4 hours to take the only train out of Kings Cross, it was full just as I was nearing the front. Damn! So, I hot footed over to Euston Station, and just managed to catch a train up to Manchester. Mind you, it was no where near my home. But I'd reckon it was nearer than London. I would think about it when I arrive there. However, on the train, there was a bit of a good news for me. The conductor announced that there would be a train from Manchester to my city. I couldn't believe my ears, so I went to search him out and asked him. He looked at me with contempt and said," Didn't I just announced that "stupid" (.. I could see him judging me through his eyes)?" So, satisfied , I settled in the journey.

At Manchester Picadilly, I scanned the schedule board impatiently as we were told that the connection would be within a few minutes. Bugger! That was almost impossible to do. The reason for that was because the board switches from alphabetical order (for destination) to chronological order every 2 seconds. Who was the smart alec that designed this? I had travelled from this station before, but this did not ever occur to me. I suppose I was never in a hurry before and can peruse at my leisure. Never mind, finally an announcement came that a train was departing to Huddersfield. Again, no where near my home, but I reasoned that it was nearer than Manchester. So, I hopped on the train. There was a train scheduled to York about half an hour later, which was nearer my home. But should I take the chance? What if it was cancelled? I decided to stay the train as this one was moving. The other one would probably turned out to be an empty promise.

At Huddersfield, we were told that that was the end of the journey and we had to disembark. However, as soon as I got off, there was a whole crowd of people rushing on to the train. So, without asking I hopped back on the train. "Where are we going?" I asked the person next to me. "Oh, the train is going to Leeds first, then to Bradford and onto York", he said. Great, I thought. That is just where I wanted to go. I was feeling suitably pleased with myself as I had managed to get myself a 1st. Class seat. You see, during times of emergency, all the seats are declassified and they become standard seats. Unfortunately, that sense of well-being did not last long. After about 5 minutes, the conductor's voice came over the tannoy," Ladies and gentlemen, I want to apologise for what I am going to say next". He repeated that again. Hmmm! That sounded ominous. "Can all passengers please leave the train now?" Oh dear, not again. Ah well! Might as well go and take a pee while I had the chance. As I was making my way towards the gents on the other side of the platform, suddenly everyone was rushing on to the train that I had got off twice already!! Oh what the heck! Here we go again. I did a U turn and managed to squeeze myself into the carriage again. "Where are we going this time", I asked. Leeds, came the reply. Ok, that is better than getting stuck in Huddersfield I suppose, and I know Leeds well. Also, there will probably be more chance of getting an onward connection from Leeds than Huddersfield. I was more or less resigned to the fact that I may have to put up a night at Leeds. As we pulled into the station, the announcement came that we will be continuing our journey to York. Hurrah!! There was a loud cheer in the train. We finally arrived in York station at about 21:30. From there, I managed to catch a cab home.

No folks. We did not come under attack from the terrorists again. It was a couple of days of heavy rain that had flooded a large part of the country. However, all this goes to show that Britain is not well equipped to cope with natural disasters, even though it was only minor. There was no contingency planning at all. There was also no offer of alternative transport for the passengers.

On reflection, it was almost like a religious experience. One roughly knows where one is going, although one may not know when or where one will end up. To a certain extent, it was like a leap of faith stepping into trains. Oh yes, a certain measure of prayer was also involved. Hmm! I am going to avoid going to London again, if I can help it. The last time, it was the London bombing.............!! Need I say more!