Decided to catch the earlier 06:48 from Derby to Reading today having reserved a seat in the “quiet coach”. The earlier start definitely made a difference as there were far fewer travellers and I benefitted by not having anybody using the seat next to me.
Out of Derby my seat was backward facing but on leaving Birmingham New Street I found myself forward facing. As the train trundled out onto the line to Leamington Spa I caught that traditionally evocative sight of the front of the train from my seat near the rear of the train, and that’s what set me thinking. Train travel is no longer an event, there’s no sense of occasion and hardly any sense of speed which to me is very sad because the speed is immense. I felt the acceleration that meant we were released from meanderings through suburban Birmingham and now on the main line – and with that I dosed off and completely missed Leamington Spa and Banbury, waking as the train slowed for Oxford.
The run down from Oxford to Reading underlined just how green and pleasant this country is but it is also drearily flat unlike Derbyshire. Repeated announcements informed us that there was no catering service due to staff shortages and that Malcolm was our “Train Manager” (a fancy name for ticket collector while “Catering Manager” is the dude pushing the refreshments trolley) while I stared out the window searching for items of interest. Along one stretch there was a “ditch” which I worked out was a deserted canal but with trees growing from its base it has obviously been long deserted. At another point I observed 2 fields of blue-ish hue which I surmised to be either bluebells or heather/lavender.
And then it hit me. Rail travel has evolved along the same lines as driving a car. The object is to make as rapid progress as possible from journey start to destination with as little interaction as possible with the environment one is passing through. When I’m riding and I spot things/places of interest I stop and investigate and I can remember when we did the same when driving, but that happens much less these days. No longer is the journey an event (or part of one). Travel today is only about “getting there” and to many (most?) people the fact that the mode of travel is boring is irrelevant because they have no interest in the journey itself or the environment through which they are passing. Is that progress, or, is it just a reflection of public values in these modern times?
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