Britain’s railway timetable disaster has been over 150 years in the making | Ian Jack
Dickens was nearly killed by a train time mix-up. The Northern-Govia Thameslink chaos shows the system remains unreliable
A poorly considered or mistakenly implemented railway timetable can have serious consequences, worse even than the recent sights of platforms crowded with disconsolate commuters who wait for trains that run late or never come at all, and in the meantime tell each other stories of peeved employers, missed domesticity and the infuriating cancellation of the 8.15. “Timetable chaos” is the new headline phrase, born earlier this summer, when Britain’s railways attempted to implement what turned out to be an overambitious revision of their schedules, but it describes a situation as old as the railways themselves. When trains come and go unreliably, bad things can happen.
Related: Government urged to strip Govia Thameslink Railway of its franchise
Related: Rail passengers in timetable chaos face compensation battle
Source: Guardian Transport
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