While the trains were generally comfortable and accommodating, there was a lot of unnecessary changing because of engineering works between Guildford and Aldershot. What it meant was that rather than the just short of two hours, the trip took me over four. This could have been shorter had SWR not decided to delay me even further.
The longest trip, from Bristol Temple Meads to Reading, could have done with a working toilet. And how do train companies expect you to take everything with you, up and down the length of the train, looking for a toilet? They insist, over and over again, that you not leave any personal belongings unattended. Or should passengers just not go to the toilet?
I also have SWR to thank for announcing a train as being delayed which wasn’t – I changed platforms at Basingstoke to get the all stops to Woking only to watch the fast train arrive on time and leave without me from the original platform.
This had an added impact at Woking where I had to cross from platform one to platform five while my train home was sitting, boarding. Of course, the moment I stepped off the stairs and onto the platform the train left. Being a Sunday meant the next train wasn’t for an hour. I settled back and read.
While annoyingly time consuming, it was all fine and I did get a lot of reading done.
Finally arriving at Farnham, I headed for Waitrose to buy a chicken. I’d promised Mirinda a Persian roast chicken and that’s what she got. Complete with cauli/brocc cheese.
Meanwhile, here’s my favourite view of the day…
