Monday, January 29, 2007
London EC2: We've been trapped down here on this train for more than five hours now, and our situation is getting increasingly desperate. It's not natural to cram several hundred people into a confined space like this, and characters are beginning to crack. Several people have been sobbing openly, and panic attacks are becoming increasingly common. There's no food, no water and no sign of any external interest in our predicament. We've kept ourselves busy by swapping newspapers, and we've eased our aching feet by taking it in turns to sit down on the seats. A few flirty relationships seem to have sprung up in this confined atmosphere. A dewy glance here, a brushed hand there, even a swapped mobile number or two... they think the rest of us haven't noticed, but we have. One desperate smoker recently lit up a sneaky cigarette, which only served to aggravate the rank atmosphere in the carriage even more. At least it's not the height of summer, because the heat in these tunnels would surely be unbearable by now.
But at last a glint of hope is in the air. There's an independent move from another group of passengers to evacuate the train from the rear. Rumours to this effect have been travelling up and down the train by word of mouth, reverberating through the connecting doors from each carriage to the next. It's about time. Unfortunately I'm in the front carriage, so it looks like there'll be a lot of queueing and waiting and shuffling through the train before it's finally my turn to disembark. And then something I hoped I'd never have to do - a nightmarish walk along a pitch black tube tunnel. The next stop is Bank station. Please mind the gap between the train and the platform.
Posted at 13:41 from 51°30'51"N 0°5'41"W via my Z470xi mobile
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