am i right?

if so, i certainly wouldn’t condone taking up arms against him. he probably thought he was doing the right thing (either that or he was doing his master’s bidding, i’m sure)

the railways were stretched to breaking point during the war effort and years of under-investment have lead us to where we are now. given the circumstances, i think southeastern and co do a pretty good job with the tools available

may all your troubles be little ones

I say yes to that but the majority of people (as seen from some of the sharp comments I’ve received) seem happy with a mediocre service and I’m absolutely fine with that. If mediocre is all people want and expect then I think we are setting our sights too low but I’m not going to preach and fight a fight that no one is interested in hence my comment to leave the forum up until 1st June. If it stays as quiet as it currently is I’ll remove it and be a good little commuter. I might even move back to London and buy a bike.

It’s a shame that we are turning into a laissez faire society where mediocre is good enough but that is where we are.

Their service tends to do what it says on the tin, but with many years of commuting behind me, I understand that when you buy a ticket you enter into a contract – the dreaded National Rail Conditions of Carriage (it says as much on the back of the ticket). The NRCoC state that the ticket remains the property of the train company (which negates any complaints about “defacing” tickets). More importantly, the NRCoC set out the legal position between a passenger and train company. It’s not easy reading, but interesting and eye-opening. For example, they reserve the right to replace trains with buses (they sell you a ticket to get you from here to there – not necessarily a seat – nor even a train!!!) and if they fail to get you to “there” they can safely say that they aren’t responsible for events which are beyond their control.

In a similar vein, insurance companies tend not to pay out if you’re injured (fatally or otherwise) in an act of terrorism. They see it as an act of war (they also exempt “acts of god” – i suppose that’d mean an avalanche). When it’s those very things we’re trying to insure ourselves against. A bit of a joke really.

I suppose I realise that purchasing a train ticket fools the passenger intop having some peace of mind that they’ll be safely ferried from here to there – but, as you well know Gary, the truth is that every day is a lottery – as much as we’d (and I believe the train companies would probably back us up on this) like to hope otherwise.

it’s a house of cards. always has been and maybe always will be. i admire the fact that you set the forum up, but i suspect that it was borne of utter frustration and i would hate to see that frustration ferment as a result of a lack of interest. i agree it’s a good idea to draw a line under it if noone posts – but honestly, will you really be happy if people post positive stories? it’s for that reason that ‘ve refrained from joining.

i apologise for saying things like “i suspect he has no wife…” etc. but i tend to speak my mind and call it as i see it. i type my stuff and press “send” without censoring/reviewing what i’ve said (apart from a bit of a proof read for spelling errors). but if i could wave a magic wand, i’d turn you into a buddhist commuter type person, like i aspire to be, because canute tried to fight the tide and it didn’t work. at least when i’m breathing amidst the angst of passengers, i feel some modicum of peace.

sometimes all we have is the breaths we take (for granted) – a highly underrated bodily function (as are heart beats)

sorry if this sounds hippy-ish, and i wish you all the best.

how were your recent journeys?

D