Sunday 17 February 2013

No chuffin trains

I am a little peeved to say the least. You may remember I said I was going to get a Rail Card with my Tesco vouchers. Well I applied, and my card arrived in the post. Whoopeeee, now I can have lots of days out on the train, and save a third of the cost of a ticket on every trip. So I started eagerly planning my first trip, to Sheffield, haven't been there for ages, should be a good day.
Now look what's happened, there has been a chuffin landslide and the railway lines have collapsed, causing major disruption to services. Trains from Scunthorpe go to Doncaster, because it is a major station where passengers change to go in all directions. Halfway between, near Hatfield, is where the tracks have fallen apart, so no chuffin trains are leaving Scunthorpe. It is estimated that the work will take up to eight weeks to put it right. Looking at the photo on the poster, it is my bet that it could take longer than that. That is mega damage, they're going to need massive cranes, huge digger machines, and hundreds of tipper truck journeys bringing in hundreds of tons of that stuff they put under the tracks.
So, we are effectively cut off from the rest of the country, our links are severed, our trains are stranded and aint goin nowhere. See the red dots, that is where the railway line should be. This is going to cost East Coast Rail millions, or is it Network Rail who will be paying, they own the tracks. Either way I hope they are well insured.
So what next. Well, they do have a plan 'B'. They have organised a fleet of buses to go backwards and forwards. So you go to the station as normal, buy your ticket, and get on a bus. The journey to Doncaster by road takes longer than by rail, and they say that people travelling further afield will make their connections because they have allowed for the extra time needed. That's good to know if you are travelling to the other side of the country, like I will be doing next month. But I want to have some days out on the train now. I have my Rail Card now. By the time I have spent the extra time on the bus, added to the train journey, will it be worth me bothering. By the time I get there I will have to come back. Oh, flippin heck and chuffin fiddlesticks. They are going on about the new high speed train which is coming in about twenty years time, but what about us up here in the sticks, we haven't got a chuffin train at all now. 
Toodle pip.  

8 comments:

  1. Oh my word, that is a bummer! I do hope you will still be able to make your trip and that it won't take quite as long as you think.

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  2. Brings back to mind the ad that used to say 'Let the train take the strain' ...... NOT!!!!
    AnnBB

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  3. Not very nice.
    What about organising 2- or 3-day trips, then the time doesn't seem so important?

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    1. Might do that Cumbrian, thank you for reminding me.

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  4. It all sounds so familiar... when my daughter was at University in Keele and wanted to come home to Lancashire, she was frequently diverted and arrived in Manchester too late to catch the bus home (we had to go and collect her). Her pal, Katie, used to refer to the 'bus alternative' as the 'peasant wagon'. I suppose she had a point. But the thing is, it's OK for things like this in London, where the major infrastructure isn't greatly compromised, but you get out of the capital and all hell breaks lose. Daughter was seeing a lad in Newcastle (she has since married him) and swears that she did not take the same route up and across the Pennines twice. She called it an adventure, for me it would be a nightmare!

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  5. So sorry to hear about this disaster...it has surely spoiled your upcoming trip.
    But look on the bright side Ilona, this may have happened to save you from something else.
    You may be able to plan a different trip and still enjoy yourself.
    Best of luck to you my dear.

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  6. With all that chuffin you should do the journey in half the time. Sorry Ilona I could not resist that. It is a bummer, we can go to London via Cambridge but anywhere else we have to change at Ely or travel 18 miles to Spalding to go north. You spend so long traveling you need to stay overnight to make the journey worth while.

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  7. I can only imagine what "chuffin" translates to in American English! Really sorry that your plans have gone awry BUT you are lucky you were not on a train when the landslide happened!!

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