On commuting

Where to start? There are so many facets to this topic that I'm sure I'll return to it from time to time. Today, though, it is delays that are top of my mind.

It was a bit windy last night. Today, all the trains are delayed. Anyone see the connection? I was late traveling today, well past the morning rush. Well into the working day. The trains were running, so there weren't blockages. The wind had died down, so there weren't worries of more blockages, and yet my train was 28 minutes late (the trains run every 30 minutes), and when it did arrive, it didn't stop! I had to wait another 10 minutes for the second trains; itself now 8 minutes late.

Once I changed train the departure boards at my interchange were full of delays. However, there are so many trains at that point I just caught a delayed train at the right time! We then set off to London.

The journey to London is not exactly stimulating. Lots of warehouse and industrial type buildings, and not much scenery. So why did they put a 50 mph speed limit on? This speed limit started at my station, all trains were fast until then. There was no wind, nothing to get blown over anyway, the train are diesel, so no problems with overhead wires, so why the speed limit?

Once I hit London, there are sever and minor delays all over the board. Most of thse trains are underground! What exactly causes a weather related delay underground? The staff couldn't give me an answer either.

Every week there is a broken train, or a faulty point, an intermittent signal, and what do we all do? Work around the problem. Try to find other routes. I caught 2 trains I wouldn't usually get to work around the severe delays this morning. I did it automatically. I just switched into avoidance mode and off I went. The fact that I am even more delayed as a result didn't enter the mind. It rarely does.

Resistance is futile? Acceptance is depressing!
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