Tip of the day - If you live North of Newark and are intending on traveling with GNER today, check the trains are still running because the signals are down.
I got to Tinel Town station this morning to find the 07.20 was running 4 minutes late but there's nothing unusual about that. I met up with a freind on the platform who'd arrived early today and she started telling me how the FCC train which had just left was rammed full and she was wondering why. Alarm beels started ringing at this poitn.
Shortly the man on the tanoy announced that there was a problem up north, the 07.00 had been cancelled, the 07.20 was a little late and all GNER services were subject to severe delays or total cancelation.
Another 5 minutes passed and our freind on the tanoy told us the 07.20 was approaching the station but also warned that due to the cancelation of earlier services, spare seats were limited. With that passengers how hadn't reserved a seat rushed over to platrom 3 to guarantee a seat on the 07.26 FCC. Those like me with a reserved seat stood resolutely keeping our fingers crossed that the printer was working and that we still had our reserved seats.
As the train arrived we all looked anxiously into each carraige to see if we could see the seat res tiockets. We could and we gave a collective sigh of releif. Safe in the knowledge that anybody sat in our seats could be lawfully removed we boarded the train to find the warnings were spot on. People were already standing in the vestibule ends and the few unreserved seats were soon taken.
As I waited for passengers in front of me to store their luggage and take their seat, I could see this fella hovering over my seat like a vulture waiting for his next meal to die. I smiled to myself as he was obviously hoping I hadn't turned up. Eventually I reached my seat at exactly the moment he placed his arse on it. 'Sorry mate' I said, 'That's one got my name on it'. He looked at me with one of those 'you git' looks, said nothing, gathered his belongings and ran off in the futile hope of finding a spare unreserved seat.
As we set off the guard appologised for the delay and told us theifs had stolen the signaling cabels in some place I'd never heard of. The bloke next to me said that was the 3rd version of events he'd heard since boarding but they all concerned signal cabels being cut in some way or other. Damaged, cut or stolen, it makes no difference. No signals = No or not many trains.
I'm therefore afraid delays are inevitable today though the blame does not lie with GNER.