"Time goes faster the more hollow it is. Lives with no meaning go straight past you, like trains that don’t stop at your station." - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
I must admit, this idea might be a slight re-imagining of another. Basically, Room 101 is on the television and it got me thinking, what would I put in Room 101? What things annoy me in life more than other things? Which stuff coherently manages to frustrate me to the point where I want to scream at the top of my lungs? Well I've decided to make a segment on my blog, titled "Vault", where I can write about all the things in life that annoy me, and the first to make it's appearance in the "Vault" are Trains.
First of all, I should say that not all trains annoy me. I mean some trains are highly reliable, competent and do the job. It's just a shame that none of these trains seem to be in this country. That's right, England, I feel, has the worst train service in the world. Sure, I've only caught the train in a handful of countries, but in those countries, everything was handled so much more fluently and efficiently. I spent three months in Japan and in those three months I probably used thousands of trains, not one of them was late, or cancelled. It amazed me because in England, this is most likely the case when you catch a train.
There are reasons beyond that of lateness to be annoyed. The overpricing of tickets is another issue I feel that is overlooked. I wouldn't mind paying so much to go to London, but sometimes the service is so dire I feel like crying. Trying to get as much as a smile from the ticket attendants is like trying to draw blood from a stone. Sometimes there is so much misery in the staff, I wonder how they got into a public service job in the first place. Add to this the over crowding. Some of these trains, the Leicester to Birmingham one for example, are so rammed I'm constantly being rubbed by strangers, and no, that is not a good thing. I mean, the company knows the train is busy in the morning so why more carriages aren't added is an idea that I cannot get my head around.
I am sure there are reasons to why some of these things are not remedied. Maybe it's to do with financing, but when ticket prices rise each year, and the only difference you see is a fresh coat of paint on a station's stair case, well, you start to wonder what it is you are paying for. Sure I've moaned a lot, but I guess there are things to be grateful for in trains. They are the fastest means of travel. The country is also becoming more and more accessible, meaning you can usually get from one place to the other via a train. Also, it beats driving where you have a lot more idiots on the road. I guess what I am getting at is there are positives, and we shouldn't forget those when we decide to have a moan about something. But unfortunately, there are too many small "fixable" issues with our rail service that leave most of us wondering, "why the hell don't we just walk? we'd probably get there quicker"
First of all, I should say that not all trains annoy me. I mean some trains are highly reliable, competent and do the job. It's just a shame that none of these trains seem to be in this country. That's right, England, I feel, has the worst train service in the world. Sure, I've only caught the train in a handful of countries, but in those countries, everything was handled so much more fluently and efficiently. I spent three months in Japan and in those three months I probably used thousands of trains, not one of them was late, or cancelled. It amazed me because in England, this is most likely the case when you catch a train.
There are reasons beyond that of lateness to be annoyed. The overpricing of tickets is another issue I feel that is overlooked. I wouldn't mind paying so much to go to London, but sometimes the service is so dire I feel like crying. Trying to get as much as a smile from the ticket attendants is like trying to draw blood from a stone. Sometimes there is so much misery in the staff, I wonder how they got into a public service job in the first place. Add to this the over crowding. Some of these trains, the Leicester to Birmingham one for example, are so rammed I'm constantly being rubbed by strangers, and no, that is not a good thing. I mean, the company knows the train is busy in the morning so why more carriages aren't added is an idea that I cannot get my head around.
I am sure there are reasons to why some of these things are not remedied. Maybe it's to do with financing, but when ticket prices rise each year, and the only difference you see is a fresh coat of paint on a station's stair case, well, you start to wonder what it is you are paying for. Sure I've moaned a lot, but I guess there are things to be grateful for in trains. They are the fastest means of travel. The country is also becoming more and more accessible, meaning you can usually get from one place to the other via a train. Also, it beats driving where you have a lot more idiots on the road. I guess what I am getting at is there are positives, and we shouldn't forget those when we decide to have a moan about something. But unfortunately, there are too many small "fixable" issues with our rail service that leave most of us wondering, "why the hell don't we just walk? we'd probably get there quicker"
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