Wills and Kate @ Marylebone

Imagine the shock innocent commuters got this dreary Monday morning to be greeted at Marylebone by the couple of the moment Big Willie and Kate “Party Plan” Middleton giving out chocolates for Valentines Day!

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/02/st-valentine-in-dublin.html

Well they were entirely passable look a likes but the “Railway Eye” Blog (thank you for the photo) gives them the “Piss poor PR” award on the grounds that Chiltern Railways owners are German, it being run by DBahn or German State Railways to you and me. Can’t see the problem myself as in the immortal words of the late Dame Barbara Cartland “They are all Germans! That’s why the Royal Family didn’t understand Diana, because they are Germans!” The Great Pink Dame was Diana’s step-Grandmother, in itself a strange concept.



The Great Pink Dame


Wills and Kate, for real


Wills and Kate, not for real

For my part I would have been more impressed if Chiltern applied some Germanic rigour to their maintenance, particularly on the ropey 165 Stock, and I had not been delayed getting into Marylebone by “unit failure”, again!

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/08/deutsche-bahn-chiltern-railways.html

No doubt there will be much more Royal Guffitis between now and Friday April 29th as the Royal Propaganda machine and its fellow travellers gets into “God Bless you Ma’am “mode with every inconsequential detail puffed up for posterity. No doubt the low point will be when the leaders of the ConDem Coalition Dave “Common Man” Cameron and Nick Clog take time off from Nation Breaking to jointly broadcast that they are sharing “The Joy of the Nation!” However now one has an invitation one will have no truck with such proletarian rabble that should be transported to the colonies without delay for one is now different. One is invited!

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2011/03/one-is-invited.html



This lifelike (sic) stand-up cardboard cut out can be yours for £9.95. Avoid disappointment - don't delay!

If you require an emergency injection of Royal Nausea yourself you can buy a life size Wills and Kate cut-out or even a Royal Comic Book from the site below, one of many such tasteful outfits.In deference to the sensitivities of my regular Blogistas, this will be my first and last post on the "Great Event."

http://www.theroyalweddingwilliamkate.com/

See also the story of "The Great Day"

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2011/04/ones-first-wedding.html

Deutsche Bahn Chiltern Railways

A rare shot of a Class 165 train set between breakdowns

DB Chiltern Railways on good form tonight. 18.36 to Aylesbury from Marylebone cancelled after it leaves platform 1 when brakes hang and then takes 20 minutes to reverse back into station. Maintenance on the Class 165’s is becoming more laughable by the day. Chiltern tell us your proud record on Mean Distance Between Failures (MDBF) on Class 165 stock?

Passengers were told to go to Platform 5 to board the incredibly crowded 18.51 which actually leaves @ 19.13 (but is taken off the board at 18.50 just to add a further sense of adventure for the old and disabled!) and crawls forward having missed its window on the Met Line from Harrow to Amersham. Got to Aylesbury over 45 minutes late. Of course no apology, no mention of Customer Refunds for a delay over 30 minutes. Of course IF you did get one of these (not that they tell you how) by filling in a Customer Comment form they would give you a voucher from the Company Store for anything under £30.00. Strange that most Season Ticket Holders don’t bother? How long must this customer abuse from UK Taxpayers subsidy by this wholly owned subsidiary of German State Railways continue?


Marylebone concourse without 100's of passengers wondering why their delayed / cancelled train is no longer showing on the display

Contrast this oppressive customer contract with the enthusiasm for demanding £20 Penalty Fares from customers now that they have reduced Ticket Office opening hours. Saw their icentivised (they get a £1.00 for every PFN they issue) Revenue Staff in action. They don’t say they are issuing a penalty fare, rather they say you MUST pay a £20 minimum fare even if they are regular commuters and there were ticket office / machine queues. Their Penalty Fare leaflet is totally deceptive and tells the story the Railway wants to tell and does not even approach a fair summary of the Penalty Fare Regulations. So shy are they of this seminal work that they don’t have it on leaflet stands but is kept by Revenue Protection Staff at barriers to intimidate customers into parting with their money.

Let’s rebalance the Customer Contract – No Cash Penalty Fares without immediate Cash refunds for delays!

Read your Penalty Fare rights here; DB Chiltern won’t tell you;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/08/penalty-fares-fair-to-passengers.html


Enjoy your journey on one of our overcrowded short formations to/from Aylesbury