The Ghoul’s Travel Travails remind me to post what I didn’t have time to post about in the days before Xmas. It wasn’t my journey south from Manchester to my parent’s place in Slough that was the problem.
It was the 11 minute commute into work in the morning.
The 8:24 from Cheadle Hulme ground to a halt just north of the station, and not only was the unit declared a failure, but it managed to damage the overhead catenery. Because of the fact that in the present day railway, each type of train has a different type of coupler that won’t couple to any other type, they couldn’t just couple a rescue locomotive and tow the failed train away. It was two hours before they could summon a second class 323 to drag the failed train into the station (which meant re-energising the damaged section of overhead so they could move the second unit into the section). This released the passengers that had been trapped in the failed unit for two hours. After first telling us to get in the replacement bus sitting outside the station, they then changed plans, and sent the bus to Manchester, and put the Wilmslow and Crewe passengers into the ‘rescue’ train, which then set off south dragging the failed unit behind it.
I eventually got to work two and a half hours late, for what was only going to be a half day anyway.
The long journey south was much more uneventful; rather than risk Virgin Trains’ short formations, overcrowding, and unreliable reservation system, I opted to travel by Midland Mainline’s “Operation Rio” via the East Midlands, which delivered me to London precisely on time. And even the Circle Line was working properly for once.
