From the monthly archives:

January 2009

A broken rail

January 30, 2009

So it was a broken rail this morning, causing delays of 40 minute up to London, and a very full platform when I arrived at Chelmsford.

Read the full article →

A very full train home

January 29, 2009

A fatality blocked the line, and the train operator tried to cram 16 carriages-worth of people into a train of just four coaches.

Read the full article →

Tickets, at last

January 28, 2009

So the saga of our advanced tickets has finally drawn to a close. The reason we could get tickets but not seats on the train we wanted was that the booking system had apparently broken down. I’m not sure I entirely believe that as I’m sure it gave me the option of seats on earlier trains.

Read the full article →

And on the way home, too…

January 27, 2009

Not a good day for trains. After this mornings delays, more of the same tonight. Line congestion, it said at Chelmsford, but that’s such a stupid cover-all excuse that it’s useless. Trains theoretically run to a timetable, so you don’t spontaneously get line congestion one day when you didn’t have it the day before. Something must have caused it.

Read the full article →

Two delays in a row

January 27, 2009

Two very unimpressive journeys in a row. Last night it was a points failure at Liverpool Street and a broken down train at Shenfield. This morning, who knows. They didn’t give any excuse on the platform and the guard mumbled his announcements on the train.

Read the full article →

Tube troubles

January 25, 2009

Coming home from the Royal Albert Hall on Friday evening should have been easy: Piccadilly Line to Holborn and then Central to Liverpool Street and on to the over-ground. Except it wasn’t. The Central Line was closed from Marble Arch to Leytonstone because of a ‘passenger under a Central Line train at Liverpool Street’. Code for ’suicide’.

Read the full article →

Sorry, no seats

January 23, 2009
Thumbnail image for Sorry, no seats

The saga continues. We’ve been trying to buy tickets to get to Darlington for Easter. Not difficult, you wouldn’t think. After all, it’s still months away, and the train operators like you to buy early. That’s why they give you a discount.
Well, after weeks of it looking like it was going to cost £200 to [...]

Read the full article →

480 jobs hit the buffers at South West Trains

January 16, 2009

Are we heading for a strike? We could be, as South West Trains has announced plans to trim its workforce by 480 heads.

Read the full article →

More anti-terror proposals for rail passengers

January 15, 2009

British Transport Police want to change the Conditions of Carriage that form a contract between every rail passenger and the companies that carry them on their trains. If it happened, and the proposed new clauses were introduced, it would mean that every time you bought a train ticket you agreed to be searched by the [...]

Read the full article →

Broken down train

January 14, 2009

A broken down train holding us up this morning. Not mine – another one some way ahead, causing queues at Shenfield. I know it’s been cold, but if countries like Canada and Sweden can manage to run the trains, why can’t we?

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Recent news from Blagger self-sufficiency blog


Our beansprouts are stunted
The new chickens are settling in
Starting to make sourdough bread
Introducing new chickens to our flock
We’re getting some new chickens
We’re growing our own beansprouts
Chitting potatoes… at last
Popular Blagger posts of February 2010
Our home made cheese is getting mouldy as it matures
I think our yoghurt has died


Recent news from Meeester Nik


Anglia Ruskin campus is coming down
Aperture and the book
Abbaworld at Earls Court
The Railway Detective by Edward Marston
Bond 23
How would you vote?
It’s not like this in Anglia
Snow snow snow
How to wrap a cat for Christmas
Crystal Maze is coming back


Recent news from Morning News


Cold weather threatens UK gas supply
Snow and icicles on berries
Snow blankets the UK
Horse grazes in the snow
Chelmsford cathedral in the snow
Snow over Essex County Cricket Ground
Footprints in the snow
Cabbages shelter from the UK snow
Snow, salt and politics
Heavy snow is cold comfort for climate change deniers