Bill Carmichael: Human toll of rail woe '“ and why a lack of political clout is to blame
But one small consolation is that a peculiar and rather marvellous thing happens to passengers when you are stuck on a packed carriage going precisely nowhere for hours on end.
People who have been jabbing furiously at their phones or staring fixedly at their shoelaces for the whole journey suddenly look up as the train judders to a halt as though taking in the world afresh for the first time.
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Hide AdAnd wonder of wonders, as the minutes of delay turn into endless hours, they actually start talking to each other!
It happened to me at the end of last month when a lightning strike hit the signaling system, seemingly bringing the entire rail network of northern England to a grinding halt.
I was on a busy Aire Valley service near Shipley when the train crew announced we would be going no further.
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Hide AdThere were no trains in any direction in or out of Leeds for the foreseeable future. We were well and truly stuck!
A young woman sitting opposite me immediately burst into tears.
After being consoled and offered some paper hankies by other passengers, she dabbed her eyes and told her story.
She was due to be the chief bridesmaid at her best friend’s wedding in Newcastle that afternoon.
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