Note: I have been severed from the Internet for three days, but chose to post this as is. I wrote it on the train to London on Saturday, August 6, 2011.
So today began my journey to London. I am finally starting to figure out this whole mass transit thing, and happily made my train with plenty of time to spare (although I overslept a bit, which means I never got to try blood sausage, apparently for which Huddersfield is well known). I got off the exit at Wakefield West to board the connecting train to King’s Cross Station in London. The train arrived, and I realized that my seat was in car E. I began to walk down the platform to the desired car, when I heard a whistle blow, which I ignored (I was now at car F). As I got to car E, the doors began to shut. I tried to grab the door, but missed, so I jammed the button to reopen the doors. Nothing. I watched, horrified, as the train immediately began to leave the station. Now, keep in mind, the arrival and departure occurred in less than 1 minute! I immediately went to the Information booth, where a woman informed me that I would have to buy a new ticket, since my old one had had a particular seat reservation. I now was holding a worthless ticket that had cost £47 (roughly $80). My new ticket? £87. This stupid train had cost me over £130, or $200. I could have flown to Paris for three days for that price!
When I got on the next train (I now have 1 less hour to see London), the same thing happened to a couple of British girls sitting behind me. They had the earlier ticket, but boarded the wrong train. They threw a fit, which tipped me off that there is something fishy here. I’m not saying slow everything down by 10 minutes, but give us more than 1 damn minute to get on board. I think it is a discreet way of fleecing the general population. Totally lame.
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