Reading Roars!

Hundreds of rail commuters, myself included, were left stranded at Reading Station this morning due to “severe signalling problems in the Twyford area”.

As the minutes ticked by, I was closely observing other commuters on the platform. Some were predictably on their mobiles, saying that they were going to be late for work, others were having a bit of a chuckle about the fiasco. Several had somewhat blank expressions. Two police officers stood by, so that there would be no lashing out from frustrated customers.

Martin Salter MP strode confidently past me, seemingly unfussed, to board the London-bound “fast” train at Platform 9. Minutes later, he got off and returned the way he came. I felt like grabbing his arm (making sure not to damage his expensive suit) and urging him to do something. Instead, I glumly looked at the screen..waiting for something to happen.

When the screen did change, it revealed some (unsurprisingly) useless information - that the train was expected to arrive one minute earlier. And then, of course, we heard the tannoy announce that a stopping service was due shortly, only for the announcer to confirm moments later that there were no stopping services running as yet and that we should “listen out for a further announcement”.

Why do they do this? The Twyford technical fault was an issue, certainly, and not the first to come from that part of the line (is the Twyford section chronically ill?). The bigger issue was the information communicated to rail passengers. What was stated, both vocally and printed on the screen, was mixed-up and unhelpful. Rail users do not want to be confused; they want to be reassured.

Sadly, I see no short-term, or even long-term, solution to the rail mess. This morning I thought of the cost to the economy. A precious 45-60 minutes were lost. And it will happen again.