The Tube (Still) Sucks

A couple of months ago now, I published a comment here on how the tube sucks. It was titled "The Tube Sucks". Funnily enough.

After publishing it, I did feel a pang of guilt. We have one of the most advanced, and certainly the largest, urban public transport system in the world, I thought. Of course, every now and then, something will go wrong. And for a while afterwards, apart from the odd slight delay, all was fine.

This week though, this week, has been a nightmare. I don't just mean a normal nightmare, where you're chased down a long corridor by a octopus brandishing a car aerial (just me, then?). I mean a bad one. A really bad one. One featuring Richard Madeley, or something.

Tuesday. I was slightly late in due to a slight hold-up. OK. We live with that.

Wednesday. I got to the tube station, only to discover that the entire tube line was suspended, and that I should "seek alternative routes". What are they then? Space travel? Transmogrification? Fortunately, my tube station is also a mainline station, so I managed to get a train into London. But it did make me late and the poor unfortunates at other stations would not have had the advantage I did.

Thursday. Today. I get on the central line. It gets as far as White City. Then just stops. For ages. The driver comes on the speaker after a period of time not unlike what it would have taken to finish the journey, and informs us that he's "experiencing a problem with the train". An engineer was looking into it. We were, from that point on, all fairly convinced that we were going to be turfed off. Fortunately, another train going the same way pulled into the opposite platform, so we all got on that. Two rush-hour trains-worth of people on one train. More hairy armpits than I like to put my head into on a Thursday morning. Eventually we pull out.

At Oxford Circus, I disembark and head toward the Victoria Line which will take me to my destination. I get there. It's suspended. Faulty train at Green Park. Did the driver on the central line tell me this while I was on there. If he had, I might have liked to get off at Bond Street a stop earlier and availed myself of the Jubilee Line. Idiot.

So, instead, I have to go Bakerloo, then District, and get to the work in the most roundabout way possible.

So, there we go. No more mister nice guy. The tube sucks again.

It seems to be getting worse each day this week. Maybe tomorrow the central line will catapult me to Cockfosters, or something. Mind you, I've always wanted to go there. I think the name amuses me.