Two minutes
November 13th, 2008Wednesday morning, November 12th.
A short story.
It’s a good morning.
I need to get the train into work, from Ealing to Reading. Today is a good morning because I’ve woken up early enough to go the quick route: Walk to West Ealing station, catch the 08:06 to London Paddington, arrive there in plenty of time to catch the 08:30 high-speed train to Reading. I’m gonna get into work on time. Woo.
Looks simple, huh? You'd be amazed...
Now, I could in theory catch the 08:12 instead. This would, in theory, get into Paddington at 08:25, so still plenty of time to jump on board that 08:30 to Reading. Of course, it’s rush hour and (perhaps more importantly) it’s First Great Western, so I try not to play that game of chance. The 08:06 it is then.
Bad news though: Today the 08:06 has been cancelled. Not such a good day after all. Still, these things happen, life goes on, etc. (Actually, quite why the 08:06 is so problematic is a bit of a mystery — it’s the Greenford train, which has a monopoly over the tiny Greenford branch line for most of it’s journey. Hmmm. Anyway, that’s not the point of this little story…)
So, I take my chances with the 08:12. Naturally, as this train is now carrying two sets of passengers — the usual ones plus the 08:06-wannabes — it’s rammed. No surprises there, huh, it’s just the way these things work. Besides, the 08:12 is running roughly on time, just a minute late so far. Guess I’ll still make that prized 08:30 to Reading. Woo.
Off we go. We stop at Ealing Broadway, and the train gets even more rammed. It’s amazing how many busy commuters you can cram into a train at rush hour, it’s almost (though not quite) Tardis-like. Anyway, apart from a few unlucky ones, we’re all in. Next stop, Paddington.
Ah. Guess not. Next stop is…erm…Acton Main Line. To pick up the handful of passengers who are still waiting for that cancelled 08:06 from Greenford. Except, of course, that this train is totally rammed. Rammed! As in, no more room for those extra people, even by London rush-hour standards. Which should be no surprise, given that…(wait for it)…it’s carrying all those additional passengers who would’ve got on the (cancelled) Greenford train, but couldn’t! I mean, c’mon, it’s not rocket science is it.
Seriously, why make the 08:12 do the extra stop? Why?! It’s rush hour, on one of London’s busiest lines. What exactly was the mindset of the planning geniuses at First Great Western on this one? I can only think of two possible explanations:
- First Great Western hates its passengers.
- First Great Western is not managed by geniuses. Their management are, in fact, morons. The really stupid kind of moron.
I would love there to be some third option, really, I would.
“Ah, but wait,” I hear you cry. “You can’t leave those poor passengers stranded at Acton Main Line! Their next scheduled train isn’t for another half an hour!”
Well, yes. But let’s take a quick look at the busy rush-hour morning schedule… Ooh, look, it’s the 08:19 from Ealing Broadway to Paddington! And could it be that this train isn’t burdened with two sets of passengers? Could it be that this train is merely ‘rush-hour full’, rather than ‘ridiculously-rammed full’? I mean, I wouldn’t claim to sport the kind of genius that the planners at First Great Western possess, but it seems to my simple brain that this train *might* have been a more sensible choice to pick up those poor passengers from Acton Main Line.
Anyway, fast forward to 08:29-and-thirty-seconds. I step off the 08:12 to London Paddington. I run but, inevitably, I miss my train. That wonderful 08:30 to Reading. I get into work late. No biggie, but I could’ve stayed in bed an extra 15 minutes and got the slow 08:22 train from Ealing Broadway instead. And an extra 15 minutes in bed is a big deal on a workday morning.
To catch my 08:30 to Reading, how much quicker would my train to Paddington have needed to be? I dunno, about two minutes, maybe a bit less. How much time did the train waste on that extra pointless stop at Acton Main Line?
About two minutes.