Dynargh dhe'n Blogofrob

Tuesday 30th January 2007

"Severe delays on the Northern Line due to flooding at London Bridge," the radio told me today. This was a little peculiar - it hadn't been raining and the Northern Line is underground at London Bridge. Perhaps a pipe had burst. About an hour later, as I was still struggling to get out of bed, the radio's warning had changed to "minor delays due to signal problems."

At Kentish Town I had to let one train pass, and squeezed onto the second that came through. It crawled through the tunnels, performing the obligatory inexplicable stops either side of Camden Town. 75% of the carriage exited at Bank, and I had a seat for one stop. At London Bridge I trudged up the ramp to the Jubilee Line, after noticing the commuters waiting for the northbound Northern line spilling into the main atrium between the tracks, bodies stuck fast in the narrow archways that provide entry to the platform.

I descended the steps to the Jubilee line platform, suddenly self-conscious. At the bottom of each staircase hundreds of people stood, staring blankly and in silence, as though they were observing a minute's silence at a funeral. At the front of each cortege a grim faced TFL man stood, holding them back with tape while facilitating a small gap through which I could pass.

I had to let two trains go before I could secure carriage. Ken Livingstone got off one of those trains. The bottom half of his face was completely obscured, from neck to nose, by a big blue scarf. I don't blame him.

100 - posted at 09:34:36
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