Delay repay claims total, 1 January to 31 August inclusive, is £45.70.
First a question: what is probably the most photographed object on railway premises in the Sevenoaks area? Answer at the end of this report.
In August I took two weeks leave from work but during one of these I still travelled to London whilst I was doing voluntary work at London Olympia but between Bat & Ball and London Victoria changing trains at either Otford or Bromley South. My journeys this month incurred 44 minutes of delay; these were as follows: –
Week of 4 August
A total of 22 minutes of lateness; 7 minutes on Wednesday morning. The worst week this month.
On 7 August 2014 at 22.15 the information screen on platform 4 at Sevenoaks was still advising passengers that the 18.07 departure was delayed!
Week of 11 August
11 minutes of lateness accrued – 5 of these on Thursday. This week I travelled to and from Victoria. On this route the timetables are very generous for the distance travelled; it always surprises me when any delays are experienced!
On Thursday 14 August 2014 the driver on the train I was travelling on from Bat & Ball to Bromley South made a very long inappropriate announcement about possible destinations if you changed trains at Bromley South, then asked passengers to report anything suspicious that they see, advised people to carry a bottle of water with them and to take regular sips to avoid dehydration and then finished the tedious announcement by advising passengers that all coaches on this service call at the same destinations!
Week of 18 August
A further 11 minutes of lateness accrued 6 of these on Tuesday.
Week of 25 August
I did not travel by train during the week beginning 25 August 2014.
Finally the answer to the question at the start of this month’s report: –
The Permit to Travel machine at Bat & Ball Station.
When this machine is displaying a red light to indicate that it is not working a lot of people using the station photograph the machine with their mobile telephones. This is presumably to prove if challenged that the machine was not working which is why they are travelling without a permit to travel!