(un)Assisted travel on trains

Written on Friday 22nd August 2008, the eve of the BritBallRun…

Booking assistance for a train journey is easy…having it actually turn up is a miracle! So, my journey from London Bridge to Kings Cross station was about to become a nightmare! I arrived at London Bridge at 9.22am, my train from Kings Cross was 10.10 and 5 stops away on the underground. I was not met off the train as expected, there was no wheelchair to take me to the underground and I was advised they would not help me with my bags as “we are not a porter service”…I was fuming!Luckily two nice police officers assisted me to the underground and a nice guy then helped me to the northern line. Reach Kings cross at 9.41am and no one is there to meet me, struggle with 3 heavy bags from the underground all the way to the mainline station…I don’t know how I did it…then am told there is no one to help me at Kings Cross to my train. Had I not had only 11 minutes to catch my train I would have just sat down and burst into tears…thankfully a very kind lady offered to drag my big bag to the train (she was oldish and had her own train to catch….thank you to her for all her help). Then I met the nicest person I had seen all day, the Customer Service manager on the 10.10am train to Leeds…he helped me on to the train, sat me in first class, bought me a cup of tea and a biscuit and told me to chill…and thats what I’m doing right now!

Written today, 15th September 2008…

I’d like to say the above is an isolated incident but sadly it’s just one of many I have given up complaning about it as each time I am promised things will work better next time and each time…they dont! Instead these days all I do is think quietly to myself…I hope none of these people ever find themselves in the position I am in!