I'M ON THE TRAIN

I'm sure I've done that joke before but whatever. I've just been down to Welwyn Garden City to see a friend of mine. I was on my own so went by train as it's a bit of a long drive for me now.

It was a mixed experience.

First problem was at Waterbeach station. The ticket machine would sell me a ticket to Welwyn Garden City ... well, it would, but it wouldn't accept notes, or either of the two credit cards I tried in it, despite the PINs being accepted. The only option was coin and I didn't have £8.60 in change on me.

Sigh. OK, I'll get a permit to travel ticket and sort it out on the train ... except the PTT machine has gone. They've taken it away and filled in the hole so it's not coming back. Bugger.

So I get on the train anyway and look for the guard. I walk the whole length of the train and don't find one. I have to change at Cambridge and I've got eleven minutes to my connection so that's just enough time to go to the ticket office (can't use a machine as I'm not starting from Cambridge) to buy a Waterbeach to Welwyn Garden City ticket.

Except that since I last went on the train they've introduced London underground style turnstiles, so you can't enter or leave the platform without a ticket. In theory this is a Good Thing. In my case I'm now stuck on the platform without a ticket. Luckily there's a "BR" employee there so when I explain he lets me through.

After that it was pretty straightforward. Went to Welwyn Garden City, walked there (two miles), saw my friend, had a chat, got the bus back to the station as my feet were killing me (long story).

Now according to the Network Rail web site I'm meant to get the 16:31 back, changing at Letchworth rather than Cambridge. I thought it odd at the time but when I got to the station the display said the 16:31 went all the way to Cambridge. I know that line, the following train wouldn't be able to overtake very easily and anyway it would depart Letchworth 19 minutes later. Why not stay on the train all the way to Cambridge, assuming I had a seat?

So I asked the nice young lady on the platform. She was bemused. She called her friend over. She couldn't work it out either.

I got on the 16:31, found a seat, so I stayed on it all the way to Cambridge. There I got lucky. The train before the train I was going to catch to Waterbeach was late: it actually pulled in two minutes after I arrived in Cambridge rather than twenty minutes before. So I dived on that and was home by 18:00.

Despite all this I do love travelling by train. Don't know why. Just do.