Ahhh London, you can be so lovely at times, but generally you are a massive pain in my arse. Working in London definitely has some benefits, I get to work for a cool e-commerce company – Farfetch which is in the heart of tech city and there are a range of great restaurants and events all around us, but when my alarm goes off on a Monday morning and I realise once again I have to face the dreaded transport network I could genuinely cry, welcome to a day in my life, London Commuting.
7:00am
I get out of bed and check Citymapper on my phone. I shortly realise that the Central Line is part suspended, I start drafting an email to my manager to let her know I’ll probably be late.
7:30am
Another update from Citymapper, the Central Line is now only severely delayed, this means I’ll probably make it to work sometime before 12pm so I start getting my stuff ready to leave shortly.
8:00am
At the station now, of course it’s a free-for-all. The next train is in 12minutes and the platform is full of angry looking commuters. Eventually the train rolls in and is already highly packed, even though my stop is only the second on the line.
8:05am
I’ve managed to make it onto a packed carriage, there is a man standing in front of me with a massive backpack on his back that is partially resting against my face. He doesn’t worry about taking it off, but it’s ok, I can lean my face on it whilst I cry.
8:20am
The train makes it as far as Leytonstone station where we are all told we have to get off as the line is now suspended again.
8:30am
I stand in the middle of Leytonstone high street wondering how the hell I will make it to work, the bus queue is surrounded by about 300,000 people. I check citymapper again and it tells me that Stratford station is only an hours walk away. “Great” I think “I could definitely do with an hours walk, not like I have to be anywhere!”
8:40am
I’ve started my walk and I’m already annoyed, I’m surrounded by aimless commuters desperately trying to get somewhere, many of them are the dreaded slow, loud talking walkers. I resist the urge to punch them in the back of the head and dart around them as quickly as I can.
9:30am
I have finally made it to Stratford station. I’m a hot sweaty mess, but I am here. I get onto the National Rail Line which will take me to my destination station, Liverpool Street.
9:45am
I’m at Liverpool Street! I have made it to the promised land. The station is like a scene from a horror movie, people dashing everywhere and attendants and police letting people know the terrible news “THE CENTRAL LINE IS NOT RUNNING, FIND AN ALTERNATIVE ROUTE.”
9:50am
I make it out of the station and have a 15minute walk to the office, I pray that I can get there without anything going wrong and break into a light jog.
9:55am
Of course it isn’t smooth sailing, as like most mornings I see an idiotic cyclist cut through a red light and nearly hit a pedestrian, followed by another one completely mowing through a group of people crossing a Zebra crossing and then giving them abuse. If you are a cyclist that obeys the rules of the road please let me know, because I would genuinely LOVE to meet one.
10:00am
Nearly mowed down by another cyclist, this time they are cycling on the pavement under scaffolding. Don’t worry mate, I’ll move out of your way, it’s not like you have another road surface to travel on.
10:05am
I finally make it into the office and apologise to my Manager. I think she pities me more than anything, the plights of living in Essex.
6:00pm
The end of the day. Facing the journey home, and the cycle begins again.
Hope you enjoyed my post! If you know the horrors of commuting in London do leave me a comment so I can share the pain with you!
