Choo choos making me blue.

Monday 28 February 2011

I'm only on my second train of the day but already I've waited around the hellhole that is Birmingham New Street for nearly an hour, freezing my tits off and eating a twirl, been offended by the people (many people) who insist upon pushing onto the train before the previous passengers have gotten off and therefore pushing in front of myself whilst I politely wait and now Cross Country trains are hindering my ability of type due to the distinctly wobbly nature of this train. The only light at the end of the tunnel (other than on exiting the dark, dank underground of New Street) was the delightfully friendly ticket man and the fact that I rather like the colour of the seats.

The delightful Birmingham New Street, well overdue for a revamp.

This is all from a person who is very much in favour of public transport.

I don't take a lot of train journeys but once every 4 weeks or so I return to my family and friends back in Wombourne for a weekend of heavy drinking and heavier washing machine usage. I'm the same with buses... I only really used the bus to get to and from Wolverhampton train station. Basically, I'm not a commuter but nor do I shy away from the ticket office.

With all the furor over green technology and one's "carbon footprint" the last Labour government tried to push public transport (not that the current establishment is taking any notice) but it wasn't a success. As always what the buses, trains and metros need is funding and we're not exactly going to get that from the Tories. In January train tickets went up, mine regular one by a fiver but I have seen no improvement. Wolverhampton bus depot is being renovated, it's a beautiful modern building but with the single bus tickers going up it seems (if anything) the service has deteriorated. And the local buses are still as vile as ever.

It seems that in the current economic climate public transport is going to be shoved to the bottom of the pile. It's going to be ignored and stay the same until greater prosperity returns to Britain's economy. That is of course not including London which no doubt will be picture-perfect in time for the Olympics. I'm not against the Olympics it just feels as thought we're just fixing up what you can see at first glance as to impress the visitors. Just because it looks good doesn't mean it's working.

For now the trains and buses will sadly carry on with their work. I will continue to enjoy my journeys but push to the back of my mind the niggling feelings of disappointment.

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