Twas the night(mare) before Christmas ....

....and Northern Rail balls it up again !!!

Finished work at lunchtime - a quick beer in Cheadle Hulme to say farewell to some people who have "jumped" - and one who was "pushed" (yo ho ho indeed ...) before some last minute shopping in the big city.

At about 1600 I phoned our Michelle to find she was on her way to Stoke station - I caught the 1611 to Stalybridge (bravo First TP - it was on time ...) to arrive at Stalybridge at about 1628 .... to find that the 1642 to Mossley is cancelled ... and the 1712 to Mossley is cancelled ... next train to Mossley in 63 minutes ...

Buffet Bar shut for the 3-7 slot - so a trip to the "Q" for a beer before getting back to the station at about 1720 - to be told that the 1712 had been 'reinstated' and had left Stalybridge about 60 seconds before my return ...in comes the 1726 to Huddersfield ... containing our Michelle, who'd managed to get from Stoke to Stalybridge in slightly less time than Northern Rail had kept me waiting at Stalybridge (good old Branson - and First TP !!) - the 1729 to Mossley was - naturally - on time.

Hopefully Santa will be dropping off a few copies of "The Idiot's Guide to Running a Railway" to senior managers in the Northern Rail profit centre ... this is the latest "spin" from them ... a jolly poster adorning many a station..



(at least it's not Richard Branson's fault this week...)

Don't you just love the use of words:

..."the majority" of services have run on time (this actually translates to "...the services outside peak time which are used by an insignificant minority of peeps") ...

... and then - what is a "significant minority" ??? (don't know about you but I reckon that this either translates to "all the peak-hour services that a significant majority of people use", or maybe just "a lot").

Up to now I see no evidence of "working hard" or "making progress" - no doubt Mr Lee Whatsiname will be "allegedly" receiving his OBE in the New Years Honours List for alleged services to (please fill in YOUR choice) running whelk stalls ... actually no ... I reckon they'd struggle there as well.

One last point - is that name at the bottom of the poster for real ????? Tell you why - it's actually an anagram of "Waged Senile" .... or "Dawn Gee Lies" ....
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