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I had to go to Broadstairs today - or rather to somewhere 25 minutes' walk from Broadstairs. I'd usually use the bus - or two buses, as it's quicker, or relatively quicker for values of an hour to cover twenty miles. The Loop bus, however, gets not much closer to the campus than the station, although one of the stops at Westwood Chaos is marginally closer.
Or I could catch a train - walking twenty minutes this end, twenty-five the other, with a twenty minute rail journey. Not much in it, and it's marginally cheaper by train, and marginally less frequent. I discovered a route earlier in the week which, if I change at Birchington on Sea, drops me outside the campus, but it's dependent on a connection and I'm not entirely sure it's the same company, an it in seventy minutes.
I decided to catch the train - actually HS1 on the distinctly low speed section of its route - as I wanted another half hour in bed (and actually squeezed an hour). I set out about 9am, found a gap in the roadworks on Wincheap to let me cross at the lights, and walked to the station and bought a ticket. Then I checked the screens. No mention of the one I wanted, and the previous one being delayed from one side of 930 (peak) to the other (offpeak). It's a good job I asked, because this was the only way I discovered I needed to catch a rail replacement bus to Ramsgate. From there, apparently, I could catch a train.
The bus subjected us to local radio, the door kept refusing to shut, the wheels skidded on each gear change, and we were to get stuck between a learner driver lorry then a house. Oh, and the road to Minster is narrow. I'd gone onto the Southeastern Trains website, once my phone recovered from a major crash, and discovered that a car had been parked on a level crossing at Minster. Ths was clearly throwing out most of the Kent to Coast trains, with the exception on anything on the Chatham line.
We got to Ramsgate about ten minutes after I should have got to Broadstairs, and was directed to platform 4 by the helpful advisor on the concourse, only to be told on Platform 4 that I needed 2b. This would leave as soon as they found a conductor. Have train, don't have conductor. Conductor found, I get to Broadstairs at about the time of the light refreshments, but still half an hour's walk, give or take. It's a nice day, but wishing not to miss the prime reason for being there, I go in search of a taxi.
None at the station, but I do remember a taxi company on the road to the sea (opposite to where I need to walk) and actually there's one nearer the station who fail to offer their STD code on their office. Fortunately there's a button to press, and the taxi arrived promptly, and then tired to take e back to the city I'd come from rather then to the satellite campus. Chiz. As it was, perfect timing, but stressed to the eyeballs.
One opening and one symposium later, I walked back to the station and got there just as the Ramsgate train did. I had fifteen minutes to wait until the 1605 HS1, which was due at the platform where a train was already waiting, but that was due to leave at 16.21. This would be a problem. A Javelin arrived, but not for public use, at the adjoining platform. Then a driver and two conductors arrived - with no idea where their train was. There were frantic enquiries about a 1604, apparently missing, and trains after five were already cancelled. Could we us the not for public use one? 1605 came and went, and it was not until 1610 that the train was declared delayed. Another Javelin arrived, connected to the existing one, and they left together. The decision to name these after Olympic athletes has me cursing sportsmen. Bloody Steven Redgrave.
Apparently the person who was meant to get the Javelin we needed had been sent to do something else.
1621 came and went, and the usurping train stayed.
When it finally went, another train - not a Javelin - headed for the platform but bore left at the last moment and went to the next platform. Still no Javelin. I noticed the Charing Cross train was due, and I could catch that - so went back to the platform I'd arrived on an hour earlier. A train left just as I got there - but fortunately not the one I wanted - and I sat on that for ten minutes until finally it went. I kept expecting to ee the javelin I'd been waiting for pass, but fortunately it didn't.
I'd planned to read on the trains, to prepare from writing a lecture I'd singularly failed to get written for tomorrow, and decided I needed to call in Caffe Nerd for a consolatory coffee and a chance to do the reading I'd failed to do on the bus. A chunk of it done, I headed back home, cooked a low calorie tea, watch a couple of recorded items and finally settled down to write the lecture I'd planned.
Some sixth sense saved me, as I decided to check the lecture title.
The reading I'd done was for the lecture in a fortnight. Tomorrow's is on something different.
I scrabbled some stuff together, but I'm not happy. I've had a whole four bars of Kit Kat tonight, but I'm hoping that the ninety minutes' of walking has offset any surplus (I pigged out a little at lunch) and I'll just walk now to the station to check if there are engineering works on Sunday.
So twice now I've used the trains to Broadstairs because it's time sensitive - and twice now they've been bolluxed up.
Or I could catch a train - walking twenty minutes this end, twenty-five the other, with a twenty minute rail journey. Not much in it, and it's marginally cheaper by train, and marginally less frequent. I discovered a route earlier in the week which, if I change at Birchington on Sea, drops me outside the campus, but it's dependent on a connection and I'm not entirely sure it's the same company, an it in seventy minutes.
I decided to catch the train - actually HS1 on the distinctly low speed section of its route - as I wanted another half hour in bed (and actually squeezed an hour). I set out about 9am, found a gap in the roadworks on Wincheap to let me cross at the lights, and walked to the station and bought a ticket. Then I checked the screens. No mention of the one I wanted, and the previous one being delayed from one side of 930 (peak) to the other (offpeak). It's a good job I asked, because this was the only way I discovered I needed to catch a rail replacement bus to Ramsgate. From there, apparently, I could catch a train.
The bus subjected us to local radio, the door kept refusing to shut, the wheels skidded on each gear change, and we were to get stuck between a learner driver lorry then a house. Oh, and the road to Minster is narrow. I'd gone onto the Southeastern Trains website, once my phone recovered from a major crash, and discovered that a car had been parked on a level crossing at Minster. Ths was clearly throwing out most of the Kent to Coast trains, with the exception on anything on the Chatham line.
We got to Ramsgate about ten minutes after I should have got to Broadstairs, and was directed to platform 4 by the helpful advisor on the concourse, only to be told on Platform 4 that I needed 2b. This would leave as soon as they found a conductor. Have train, don't have conductor. Conductor found, I get to Broadstairs at about the time of the light refreshments, but still half an hour's walk, give or take. It's a nice day, but wishing not to miss the prime reason for being there, I go in search of a taxi.
None at the station, but I do remember a taxi company on the road to the sea (opposite to where I need to walk) and actually there's one nearer the station who fail to offer their STD code on their office. Fortunately there's a button to press, and the taxi arrived promptly, and then tired to take e back to the city I'd come from rather then to the satellite campus. Chiz. As it was, perfect timing, but stressed to the eyeballs.
One opening and one symposium later, I walked back to the station and got there just as the Ramsgate train did. I had fifteen minutes to wait until the 1605 HS1, which was due at the platform where a train was already waiting, but that was due to leave at 16.21. This would be a problem. A Javelin arrived, but not for public use, at the adjoining platform. Then a driver and two conductors arrived - with no idea where their train was. There were frantic enquiries about a 1604, apparently missing, and trains after five were already cancelled. Could we us the not for public use one? 1605 came and went, and it was not until 1610 that the train was declared delayed. Another Javelin arrived, connected to the existing one, and they left together. The decision to name these after Olympic athletes has me cursing sportsmen. Bloody Steven Redgrave.
Apparently the person who was meant to get the Javelin we needed had been sent to do something else.
1621 came and went, and the usurping train stayed.
When it finally went, another train - not a Javelin - headed for the platform but bore left at the last moment and went to the next platform. Still no Javelin. I noticed the Charing Cross train was due, and I could catch that - so went back to the platform I'd arrived on an hour earlier. A train left just as I got there - but fortunately not the one I wanted - and I sat on that for ten minutes until finally it went. I kept expecting to ee the javelin I'd been waiting for pass, but fortunately it didn't.
I'd planned to read on the trains, to prepare from writing a lecture I'd singularly failed to get written for tomorrow, and decided I needed to call in Caffe Nerd for a consolatory coffee and a chance to do the reading I'd failed to do on the bus. A chunk of it done, I headed back home, cooked a low calorie tea, watch a couple of recorded items and finally settled down to write the lecture I'd planned.
Some sixth sense saved me, as I decided to check the lecture title.
The reading I'd done was for the lecture in a fortnight. Tomorrow's is on something different.
I scrabbled some stuff together, but I'm not happy. I've had a whole four bars of Kit Kat tonight, but I'm hoping that the ninety minutes' of walking has offset any surplus (I pigged out a little at lunch) and I'll just walk now to the station to check if there are engineering works on Sunday.
So twice now I've used the trains to Broadstairs because it's time sensitive - and twice now they've been bolluxed up.
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