In conclusion, fuck you Arriva, "best rail operator in the country."

[raven]

Feel free to skip this entry. It is mostly rant, rant, rant, against the world in general and those fucking bastards at Arriva in particular. Argh. In the morning, I was late. I don't mind being late. Not in the slightest. It's not as if school is somewhere I want to be. But it was annoying to reach Freshfield station and read a notice that said there had been a power failure overnight, and so no trains from Formby to Southport.

So out I trot, and beg my mother please please give me a lift to Formby station. And I caught the train from there, and actually wasn't all that late.

The evening was a different story. I actually got let out early - I was on my way home by three thirty. I was expecting the trains to be fixed so I could be home by four. But no. No, no, no. Firstly, the power failure was still in existence and I was going to have to get off at Formby. The trains were half-hourly and late. But I persisted, waited in the increasing cold and dark, and gladly got on the train when it came, planning to get off at Formby, get the Formby circular and be home safe and sound if later than planned.

They halted the train at Hall Road. Another problem, this time a failed train at (where else?!) Formby. They yelled, "All change!" and everyone had to troop off. The train stayed a moment, then reversed and went off back down the line. There was an annoucement to the effect of, another train is on the way. Sit down and wait.

I waited. And waited. And waited. And the level crossing gates descended and the train came. Doors opened. I got on and perched myself by the door. And waited. And waited some more.

"All change!"

I could have screamed. They threw us all off, and the guards and driver emerged looking just as confused as everyone else. And then there came another announcement. The power failure had been fixed, but no rail-replacement bus service is forthcoming. The failed train is in the way.

I rang home. The landline is broken. I rang my mother. She forgot her phone. I rang Pedar. He's doing late-night Caesareans tonight. I rang Becca. She wasn't home yet.

That time I could have cried. It was cold, and dark, and the station was full of hundreds of very angry people, and the train people didn't know anything and there weren't any buses, and argh. There was a slightly doolally man behind me yelling about "damn Tories" and "it's never been the same since Margaret Thatcher" and I couldn't bring myself to inform him we have a Labour government.

And then, like magic, things happened. A(nother) train came in, we all got on, hundreds of us, and I held my breath. There was another announcement. "This train is calling at all stations to Southport!"

A ragged cheer. And so I came home. It took me two hours. The journey is seven-and-a-bit miles.

And in writing that, I missed out the events of the day. Not that there were any. Thursday, so all Politics - for the Political Awareness module today, we had a visitor. He was from Sefton Council, very mild-mannered and nervous and extremely boring, but he can't be blamed for that when his subject matter was so boring to begin with. Involved library opening times and Wheelie bins. I wasn't really listening.

Mrs Barry cornered me today. "We have a sword!"

We do, too. It's all shiny and perfect for Gandalf. A gift from Mrs Myring. And I was also cornered by Julie and Nichola - "Harry Potter soundtrack!" - and Rola - "Eeyore!"

This thing is really taking over my life.

And to finish with, a to-do list you can ignore:

• Politics preparation; choice of AS question.
  
• English text transformation; AS question.
  
• Revise for Biology mock AS module.
  
• Manifesto for Political Awareness.

I need chocolate. I'm sure there's a Cadbury's selection box here somewhere...

Comments

[just-the-ash.livejournal.com]

Look on the bright side. Arriva isn't actually the most miserable failure (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=miserable+failure&btnG=Google+Search) in the world.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

*laughs*

Perfect.

[bekkypk.livejournal.com]

I get confuzzled when people talk about them. Do they run buses too? Cos when I did stuff over the summer dudes called Arriva were running buses to wolves from cannock n vice versa.
Chocolate is good.
xx

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they do buses too. Round here they do all the public transport, and they're crap at it.

Chocolate is indeed good. :)

[bekkypk.livejournal.com]

They manage buses bgetter then they do trains then ^_^ Although one day I can think of we didn't get a bus at all, i'd left waiting for the 4pm one and i was still sat on the floor an hour later being as how neither the 4pm or the 4-30pm had arrived!
xx

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

I feel your pain.

Arriva are eeeeeeevil. Eeeeeeevil I tell you!

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

They're the spawn of Satan, or at least they would be if I believed in Satan.

[Dorfl]They're the spawn of the precepts of an outdated temporary moral system.[/Dorfl]

[manynames.livejournal.com]

Public transport sucks - where I live, the bus drivers don't think it's their job to actually, y'know, pick people up - it took me two hours to travel 2.6 miles, due to a bus driver who thought 'Those people at the bus stop can't actually want the bus - I think I'll ignore them'. And it was raining, and pitch dark when I had to walk from the bus stop to my house. :( Sorry your train was so crappy.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Ooh, buses are worse than trains. I feel your pain there, I really do; I loathe buses. And bus drivers. Urgh.

[cucharita.livejournal.com]

see that's kindof mean. I was stood outside my college tonight waiting to get picked up after I'd been to see a play, & there were a few of us & an empty bus went past & stopped to let us on, even though none of us needed to get on it. We told him thanks anyway & to have a nice day/night.

In other news, I do not like trains. But I thought that arriva were the buses & merseyrail were the trains?

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Merseyrail and Arriva are affiliated.