London Banter - View Single Post - "This train is being held here awaiting signal clearance"

Martin Underwood · July 25th 06, 02:35 PM posted to uk.transport.london

Dave Arquati wrote in message
:

I regularly travel along the Cotswold line (Oxford - Worcester)
which has many single-track sections, but most passengers have no idea
that these exist, and are left wondering why the train has been
stopped for ten minutes in the middle of nowhere. Of course, they
shouldn't be expected to know that there are single track sections -
but the train manager should know that they don't know, and should
make an announcement to explain the delay!

If only trains could leapfrog over each other on a single-track line, as in
the Heath Robinson cartoon! ;-)

* My personal favourite being loud platform announcement "This train
is going to CHARING CROSS", combined with in-train sign "CHARING
CROSS", plus in-train announcement "This train is going to CHARING
CROSS", followed by passenger asking of fellow passengers, "Is this
train going to Charing Cross?".

Probably a symptom of the number of announcements that a passenger
hears on an average journey - there are so many that the mind blocks
them out as a matter of habit!

And many announcements these days are either unintelligible (quiet or
distorted) or else mumbled in a strong foreign accent.