We apologise for the delay to your journey…
When I hear an automated voice announce the above at a train station it makes my blood boil. Are you really sorry? I seriously doubt it. At Birmingham New Street station I have serious reservations about whether they care about providing a decent service at all let alone whether they mind delayed trains considering they have so many of them daily.
Every train I have tried to catch this week from New Street has been delayed by at least 15 minutes. On Monday my train was delayed by 25 minutes, on Tuesday I got on a train that was delayed because it could not leave until a different delayed train had left (I had just got off said train and run across the station to catch what I had presumed would be an earlier leaving train. It was not), on Wednesday my train was delayed for 15 minutes and yesterday set an all time low for my New Street experiences.
I was allowed to leave work early and arrived at New Street at 18:17. There was a delayed train to Manchester scheduled to leave at that time (perhaps the first sign that I shouldn’t try and catch it), so I rushed down and managed to get on it and even find a seat. 10 minutes passed and then we were told that the driver had yet to arrive… another 8 minutes and we were advised to catch different trains… I had passed on three other trains that would have got me home by committing to the delayed train. I should have changed trains as soon as they announced the absence of a driver, but I foolishly believed that they had meant he would be arriving shortly, and was still smarting from what had happened on Tuesday. I did get on a train that was also delayed, but only by 3 minutes…
In the new year I shall have to pay more money for this overcrowded, incompetant service… I’m sorry what?