On the Right Tracks

Cherry

By luigi_pagano

Mon, 18 Nov 2019
  • 2405 reads
12 comments
 

Don't let anybody tell you that rail travel is easy. Don't be lulled into a
false sense of security and believe it is a piece of cake. It isn't.

From personal experience I have found that it is a task full of pitfalls
that requires a lot of organisation for it to run smoothly.

How many times have you missed catching a train because you misread the timetable or your watch was slow and you got to the station a minute too late?

On the other hand you were there in plenty of time only to discover that it had been cancelled.

When you depart from a local station, like mine, there is no problem:
there are just two platforms, one outbound and one inbound. If you
know which direction you want to go, unless you are absent-minded and forgot, you can't go wrong.

It is when you have to deal with a station that has more platforms that
you have to worry.

Say that you have arrived on platform 1 and the station's digital display
shows that your connection will leave from number 4.

To get there you have to climb the stairs of an overhead bridge, most
probably carrying luggage.

You then hear a message saying: ”The train on platform 4 terminates
here”. 

Panic sets in as nobody is around to tell you what to do next and the
information office is closed.

◊ ◊ ◊

On long journeys it is usual for a train to stop at a junction station
for as long as twenty minutes to allow carriages to be added or for
the rolling stock to be uncoupled.

You may take the opportunity to alight to grab a cup of coffee or buy a newspaper. Knowing that your memory is not what it used to be and be able to return to the right carriage you must remember where it is.

A mnemonic technique to recall the carriage's number is sometimes
employed. 
I am told that a guy did just that and as the number was 1492 he knew what that date represented.

His train had long gone and he was still frantically running around asking people if they knew when Christopher Columbus had discovered America.

You have been warned: make sure that you are on the ball and that your knowledge of history is up to scratch.

© Luigi Pagano 2019

Certificate U
Story
Just Stories
Travel
Humour
Inspiration Point (work that responds to our weekly writing cue)

Comments

Submitted by Kurt Rellians on

Some good examples of the pitfalls of rail travel and platforms. Nicely put together!

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Thanks for your kind words, Kurt. This was written in fun drawing on the worst aspects of rail travel that one may encounter but there are enjoyable journeys to be had in the right circumstances. It is still better, I believe, to travel by train in comfort than by car and be stuck in traffic jams.

Best wishes, Luigi.

 

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

There's one platform at my local station and I once inexplicably stood and watched as my train arrived and then departed. I had somehow managed to convince myself it was the one going in the opposite direction. I think that might be the stupidest thing I've ever done! So apart from it reminding me of the above, I enjoyed your train reflections Luigi smiley

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Your mention of directions reminds me of a method I used for the London Underground when I first arrived in England. I didn't properly understand which was the north bound platform and which was south. I would get on the first train that came along and if the  next stop was the one I knew to be right I would carry on or come back on a train going the other way if I was wrong. I got the hang of it eventually.
I never knew that there could be a single platform!

Luigi x

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

This is so true Luigi.

You summed the whole scenario up perfectly.

Jenny. xx

 

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

We are all slaves to the whimsical world of rail travel, Jenny.

Luigi xx

 

Submitted by Ed Crane on

It was getting my car clamped in the station car park while meeting somebody off the train, thanks to a postage size warning sign 30 feet up a lamp post.angry

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

I know Ed, it's infuriating. My wife incurred a fine because she parked in a station car park in a space whose white lines had been removed because of ongoing surface work. She only realised at home when she found a ticket on the windscreen which she had mistaken for a promotion leaflet.

 

Submitted by agnosticnun on

This is one of the more entertaining things I've read lately!

Kristi

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

I tried to make it as amusing as possible, Kristi, but it's not so funny when we experience these setbacks ourselves. 

Best, Luigi x

 

Submitted by forest_for_ever on

Once again my dear friend you have nailed it. Well done.

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Glad you liked it, Graham.

Best, Luigi.