Fire on the line? Now I’ve really had enough!

I RUE the day I left London just ahead of lockdown in 2020 for a leafier life in Berkshire. Commuting by train has become a nightmare as a result of repeated delays, cancellations – and, of course, strikes organised by a union (RMT) whose officials are only really interested in causing economic chaos and bringing down the Government.

Although the next batch of strikes starts on Tuesday, my service already seems to have gone into strike mode. For example, last

Thursday I ran to Wokingham station all fired up to get the first train to Reading (5.57am), a South Western Railway service. It failed to appear, as did the 6.27. Too cold for the trains to run? Unlike me. Maybe, nobody bothered to say.

But there were no SWR trains running between Reading and London Waterloo either way.

I eventually managed to get the 6.42 Great Western Railway Service to Reading, although it was four minutes late.

Having got to Reading, I thought my travel woes would be over, what with plenty of GWR trains stopping en route to London Paddington.

How wrong I was. The 7.02 service crawled its way to the capital as a result of issues at Twyford and further down the line a trackside fire (a fire! Really?)

When the train arrived at its destination just after eight o’clock, it was 32 minutes late.

Both delayed legs of the journey qualify for compensation. I’ve made my online delay pay claims (a pretty painless experience compared to the commute) and wait to be told the pittance I will receive to offset against the £126.20 I paid for a weekly ticket.

And yes, my ticket. I normally buy a monthly one for £484.30. But the multitude of strikes in the coming days made that a non-starter for December. So I’ve ended up paying more pro-rata for a weekly ticket.

Having been delayed seven days ago by more than 30 minutes when I used Avanti West Coast to go from London to Birmingham to see my mother (compensation of £5.12 paid), I’ve had enough.

Bloody railways. Bloody unions.