Tangara's - The Pride of the Fleet

Morning all!  Today I had to purchase my monthly rail ticket which costs the princely sum of $172.  This gives me 20 working days of travel on the rail plus weekends if I need it (which is never).  It is on this day as I hand over my credit card to Bill the Station Master (CityRail hasn’t heard of eftpos yet and if you are at Emu Plains it’s a cash only transaction!) that I tend to look at the past month of CityRail service and give them a serve.  I was particularly looking forward to this given yesterdays revelations that the new timetable will be slower than the timetable in place in the 1930’s.

I waited patiently as Bill processed my credit card manually with the slide machine (hey, at least its not cash only) and the automated station voice (you know the one – the lady with the voice of seduction who lulls you into a false sense of security and yet tells you you’re screwed this morning) comes on and says:

“The 7:10am service has been cancelled for today only.  CityRail apologises for any inconvenience caused”

As she says this, Bill goes “cha-ching” and slides the 1970’s style slide machine over my 2005 credit card and says “Sorry Clayton (he reads the names on the card and gets to know you by name) but don’t worry, the 7:22 Tangara will be along shortly – it’s the Pride of the Fleet!”

Bill of course wasn’t being literal and was well and truly aware that the 8 cars of Blue Mountain commuters were being well and truly done over this morning.

He probably didn’t realise the irony though given I had just paid $172 for the privilege.

So now I sit on the Tangara in the vestibule area.  The train is crowded and is stopping at such salubrious stations such as Kingswood, Werrington and Mt Druitt which is always a pleasant thing to do when you are running late and are packed in like sardines!

I had to ring my boss to tell him I was running late but he doesn’t understand given he drives a Saab and comes from Lindfield and whilst he is an OK boss, the thought probably crosses his mind that people who live in the mountains shouldn’t work in the city.

Oh well, there is always the journey home to look forward to!