I used to commute by train up to London everyday, god I don't miss it at all!
I had a course today in North London, so experienced the extensive London underground and overland train "experience" as a rare one-off, because most other days I'm cycling in to work elsewhere.
Being overused and under-cleaned, I recall that train smells were dominated by mild aromas of piss and stale body odour. Confirmed today!
At London Bridge station I was held in a temporary sheep-pen when station staff closed barriers to let over-crowding on the platform subside. Fair enough, but doesn't make for a smooth reliable journey.
Bundled on to tube train compressed in with about 5 or 6 people per square meter of floor space. I.e. Unpleasant. My primary hope was that the travellers surrounding my north, east, south & west, were not pickpockets.
Had my foot stepped on twice.
On the way back, had to wait 20 mins for next overland train. Which was delayed by 8 mins on top of that. Oh joy.
Luckily GOT a seat! but that turned out to be disadvantageous, because a HUUUGE fat man chose to squish besides me, his sweaty armpit resting on my shoulder. *Shudders*
With a warm sun penetrating the train's window directly to me, I felt AS perspired, as having cycled to work, but without any of the endorphin feel-good rewards.
Oh, it cost me the best part of ten quid as well! Pah!
Sod doing that everyday! I can't wait to get back on my bike tomorrow, and enjoy the unconstrained personal freedom of cycling.
1 comment:
My wife particularly waxes poetic as she misses the public transportation she left behind when she moved here to rural New Hampshire. There are definitely places I prefer to travel without a car, most cities heading that list. But I also remember being surrounded by a gang of ...disadvantagesd youths... one night on the DC Metro, and various other real-world flaws in the Utopian notion of easily accessible rail and bus service. If it's needed enough to pay its own way, it's used too much to stay shiny-bright and smelling like a new car.
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