I'm still travelling
I may now be back from my round the world trip, but that doesn't mean an end to the travelling. I now have to undertake the worst commute I've ever had every day on my way to the office. Considering I used to travel from Oxfordshire to London on a journey of an hour and a half each way, which also included the Circle Line, that is a bold claim. Let me elaborate:
The first 12 minutes, walking from my new and very nice flat to Wansdworth Town station is fine. It is true that it is not the most picturesque route, taking in as it does the delights of the Wandsworth Borough Council Solid Waste Disposal Station (that's a rubbish dump to the layman), B&Q, Homebase, a BP petrol station and, of course, that bizarre metal atomic structure on the Wandsworth roundabout. It is only after this walk that the nightmare begins.
I have to take an overground train to Vauxhall. These are normally jam-packed, although on the positive side they are air-conditioned. Often I have to let one train go past as it's too busy, only to cram myself on the second equally busy train.
I then barge my way past huge queues of people on a relatively long stretch from Vauxhall overground to the underground. When I get on the platform, the queues are normally four or five people deep. I may have to wait for the second train again. This is on a good week. On a bad week, as the first two weeks were after I moved in, I had to wait for the fifth or sixth train. A tube train arrives, nobody gets off, two or three people squeeze onto the train and the queue on the platform edges slightly forward.
The tube journey takes about 15 minutes and then the next obstacle is Warren Street station. There appears to be an unwritten rule at Warren Street that a train coming in the opposite direction must arrive at the same time as mine does, meaning that approximately fifty thousand people (i'm not very good at estimating numbers) converge on the escalators at exactly the same time. At least all of the escalators have been in use now for the three months I've been back, which is a new record for Warren Street over the five years I've been going there. Normally at least one is out of service for six months at a time.
All this hassle just to get to the office. I must be crazy.
The first 12 minutes, walking from my new and very nice flat to Wansdworth Town station is fine. It is true that it is not the most picturesque route, taking in as it does the delights of the Wandsworth Borough Council Solid Waste Disposal Station (that's a rubbish dump to the layman), B&Q, Homebase, a BP petrol station and, of course, that bizarre metal atomic structure on the Wandsworth roundabout. It is only after this walk that the nightmare begins.
I have to take an overground train to Vauxhall. These are normally jam-packed, although on the positive side they are air-conditioned. Often I have to let one train go past as it's too busy, only to cram myself on the second equally busy train.
I then barge my way past huge queues of people on a relatively long stretch from Vauxhall overground to the underground. When I get on the platform, the queues are normally four or five people deep. I may have to wait for the second train again. This is on a good week. On a bad week, as the first two weeks were after I moved in, I had to wait for the fifth or sixth train. A tube train arrives, nobody gets off, two or three people squeeze onto the train and the queue on the platform edges slightly forward.
The tube journey takes about 15 minutes and then the next obstacle is Warren Street station. There appears to be an unwritten rule at Warren Street that a train coming in the opposite direction must arrive at the same time as mine does, meaning that approximately fifty thousand people (i'm not very good at estimating numbers) converge on the escalators at exactly the same time. At least all of the escalators have been in use now for the three months I've been back, which is a new record for Warren Street over the five years I've been going there. Normally at least one is out of service for six months at a time.
All this hassle just to get to the office. I must be crazy.
posted by Gaz man at 12:40 pm
6 Comments:
This is exactly why I am so happy to be living in Sheffield and also, being a civil servant, working flexi time which means i get out of bed when people have alredy gone to work. Does not sound like a lot of fun hunny. Matt will have to come up with better if he expects me to live down there.
The big whinge. Just go in an hour earlier. Easy.
I like complaining though.
Jules - London is great. You'll love it. Look forward to seeing you down here when you return. We're currently on the lookout for new quizzes.
No No, Ne Ne. Must stay northern, must must.
Civil Servant in London works fine. Your conditioned hours are less in London because they expect you to deal with the nightmare of London commuting. But also because you can work flexi in London too, you can still get out of bed later! At least you don't have Bristol - where I'd like to take the bus and be more environmentally friendly, but it's actually quicker, and cheaper to take the car. So where's the incentive for me to take public transport? Missed your blogs Gazman!
Hmmm, you're really tempting me to come back to live in London (not!). Paul's commute is as follows. 10 minute walk through greenery in the sunshine, 1-2 minute wait for an uncrowded, air-conditioned train (often gets a seat). 10 minutes on the train (never a delay). 5 minutes walk through air conditioned tunnel direct to his office. Nice...
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