I try very hard not to travel by train. Lots of reasons, most of which are related to previous experiences in the cattle trucks taking commuters to London from Winchester - the first thing I wanted to do after getting home was change and shower to get the city's grime off me. However, this morning my daughter wanted to travel to Manchester so I had to endure Winchester station.
Two platforms, one person selling tickets, but several automated machines. Key in the journey from Winchester to Manchester, and up come a number of prices, the cheapest of which is £184. My daughter says, 'that's not right - I checked online and it's £94'. So we queue, and wait...and wait...while a number of 'Winchester women' (loud, and without the sense to try to find their credit card before they get to the counter), and OAPs, fumble and stumble through their ticket purchase. We get to the counter, I ask for a return and...you've guessed it, £94. Scam or simple incompetence on the part of the railways? You decide, I have my view.
These are the same idiots who, the last time I bought my daughter a ticket, sold one that wasn't valid the following day, despite me have clearly spelled out that was when she was travelling. She had to buy another ticket and the evil apparatchiks at South-West Pains plain refused to refund my money despite the problem being the result of their incompetence.
I hate them, and their rickety over-priced 'services', and despite what I'm told about saving the planet, I'll keep on driving just to ensure I give them as little money as possible.
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