Wet West End

Our hopes for as easy a journey home as we had up to Edinburgh were dashed by a combination of events.

We took advantage of a lift to The Gyle shopping centre to catch the Edinburgh tram to the city centre. Enjoyed a coffee at the The Gyle which was a good thing. We ought to have bought emergency supplies.

Thieves stole signalling cable in the Darlington area leading to cancellation of many trains. The LNER Twitter account advised not travelling today (after we’d left Edinburgh) Our 14.00 departure was one of few running. The departure before and after were cancelled as was the 16.00 from Newcastle meaning three trains were crowded onto one.

Our seat reservations were valid as it was for this train meaning we were at least able to sit down for the whole journey which was not a luxury afforded to many others. There was no buffet or at seat complimentary service in First Class, so our only sustenance was a few peanuts left from the journey up and biscuits purloined from the lounge.

On top of all this there was a broken down train north of Newcastle necessitating wrong line slow working for several miles into the station. We’re now at York, awaiting a driver (?) and are 45 minutes down. Who knows when we’ll arrive in Kings Cross.

I’ll edit the entry as the journey unfolds…

18.45, stuck at site of cable theft just north of Retford. Should have been in London by now.

19.40, just left Retford, final delay likely to be 2 hours 29 minutes