Not if it’s crucial is the answer for me. Too many times they will let you down. Whilst the idea of relaxing or working whilst being sped into town as envisaged in the picture above, the reality is that you are likely to be completely stressed as you realise you are going to miss that meeting or collecting your aged relative.
Why is it that railways only seem to let you down when it really is crucial?
Why is it that somehow the apologies (if they come at all) even more irritating!
So what’s the alternative? To drive or be driven. All transport seems a costly option and moving around the UK increasingly difficult.
Since I left to live overseas and am now a visitor to the UK I really notice the decline in the transport system. Public transport is so unreliable it is often not an option. The roads are so congested that doubling your travel times is often not enough. Especially in and out of London and inside London – well that is a whole new ball game.
I am a fan of Boris Johnson but what was he thinking in more or less shutting the embankment to put in ruddy great bicycle lanes that a few bikes an hour use? Choking one of the main routes in and out of the city.
Nuts
A bit like when that perennial idiot Ken Livingstone put in the taxi lane on the M4 inciting many a commuter into London to be delayed by a further 40 minutes and a further couple of hours spent hunting down Livingstone with murder in mind.
Sitting in bonnet to bumper traffic watching the odd taxi cruise up to the front off the jam was a great way to welcome international visitors to London. At least they could study the British habit of simply throwing their rubbish out of car windows while they wait.
Anyway there seems no easy solution other than don’t expect to arrive anywhere involving trains or London on time. The car doesn’t really offer a solution.