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London, Monday 20th October, 2003
To Whom It May Concern,
Yesterday, at around 10am, a northbound Northern Line train carrying about 80 passengers derailed pulling into the High Barnet platform at Camden Town Underground Station. 7 people were injured, and the Northern Line has, ever since, been operating at a highly reduced capacity, with line closures in effect indefinitely, and replacement bus services brought in.
The derailment was due to defective track, and was the second, for the same reason - a less severe incident occurred at Hammersmith on the Piccadilly Line - in three days.
For this reason, I got up early, and drove into work today.
At around 1pm today, a water main burst in Upper Street, the main road through Islington, and part of my journey home. The entire street was closed, buses diverted, and, I imagine, traffic chaos ensued.
A little later, an accident on Pentonville Road - one of the alternative routes no doubt being used by traffic that couldn't use Upper Street - caused delays
there.
Having left work at 4pm, and taken a circuitous route around this trouble, I got home just over an hour later.
That is my story. Now, here is my report.
This is a country that is slowly falling to pieces. Its infrastructure is starting to bulge a little at the seams, and, ever more - witness the three Tube derailments this year, the total gridlock caused by one isolated night of freezing cold and snow and icy roads in February (that I got stuck up in), train services almost brought to a standstill because the tracks might've buckled in record summer temperatures, the London blackout, burst water mains underneath major central London thoroughfares - it can't cope.
Gradually, bit by bit, it's going to get worse, and nobody's going to notice just how bad it is until something goes very, very, wrong. I don't want it to have to take another incident on the scale of the King's Cross fire to get the relevant authorities to sit up and notice. But I'm afraid that that's the only way it's going to happen.
I also have to ask myself, do I want to stay in a country that plainly doesn't care about itself, that can't look after itself anymore? I'm proud to be British, I'm proud to be English, and I'd like nothing more than to look upon these supposedly green and pleasant fields and say, 'That's where I come from, that's where I live' to any passer by, and they'll be able to look upon it and see why it is that I say that, and agree with me. Right now, I couldn't do that. We're a nation of losers, a nation of whingers, a nation of NIMBYs, a nation that wants everything done for them, but isn't willing to go out and do it themselves. (And yes, in that respect, I'm a hypocrite.)
So what do I do? Recently, I've been given the perfect excuse to up sticks and leave. All I'd have to do is find a company willing to employ me in the USA, and off I'd go. The longer this place keeps on falling apart, in fact, the more and more tempted I will be to get in touch with recruitment agencies who specialise in placing the likes of me overseas - because I'm sure they exist.
In doing so, I'll be draining this country, that so patently needs me, of one of its better resources. I might come back when I retire, to live in some sleepy seaside town, and contribute nothing to the economy. Frankly, though, I'm getting fed up with giving to an economy that doesn't seem to be giving me anything back.
I'm probably not alone.
Neil Treeby.
To Whom It May Concern,
Yesterday, at around 10am, a northbound Northern Line train carrying about 80 passengers derailed pulling into the High Barnet platform at Camden Town Underground Station. 7 people were injured, and the Northern Line has, ever since, been operating at a highly reduced capacity, with line closures in effect indefinitely, and replacement bus services brought in.
The derailment was due to defective track, and was the second, for the same reason - a less severe incident occurred at Hammersmith on the Piccadilly Line - in three days.
For this reason, I got up early, and drove into work today.
At around 1pm today, a water main burst in Upper Street, the main road through Islington, and part of my journey home. The entire street was closed, buses diverted, and, I imagine, traffic chaos ensued.
A little later, an accident on Pentonville Road - one of the alternative routes no doubt being used by traffic that couldn't use Upper Street - caused delays
there.
Having left work at 4pm, and taken a circuitous route around this trouble, I got home just over an hour later.
That is my story. Now, here is my report.
This is a country that is slowly falling to pieces. Its infrastructure is starting to bulge a little at the seams, and, ever more - witness the three Tube derailments this year, the total gridlock caused by one isolated night of freezing cold and snow and icy roads in February (that I got stuck up in), train services almost brought to a standstill because the tracks might've buckled in record summer temperatures, the London blackout, burst water mains underneath major central London thoroughfares - it can't cope.
Gradually, bit by bit, it's going to get worse, and nobody's going to notice just how bad it is until something goes very, very, wrong. I don't want it to have to take another incident on the scale of the King's Cross fire to get the relevant authorities to sit up and notice. But I'm afraid that that's the only way it's going to happen.
I also have to ask myself, do I want to stay in a country that plainly doesn't care about itself, that can't look after itself anymore? I'm proud to be British, I'm proud to be English, and I'd like nothing more than to look upon these supposedly green and pleasant fields and say, 'That's where I come from, that's where I live' to any passer by, and they'll be able to look upon it and see why it is that I say that, and agree with me. Right now, I couldn't do that. We're a nation of losers, a nation of whingers, a nation of NIMBYs, a nation that wants everything done for them, but isn't willing to go out and do it themselves. (And yes, in that respect, I'm a hypocrite.)
So what do I do? Recently, I've been given the perfect excuse to up sticks and leave. All I'd have to do is find a company willing to employ me in the USA, and off I'd go. The longer this place keeps on falling apart, in fact, the more and more tempted I will be to get in touch with recruitment agencies who specialise in placing the likes of me overseas - because I'm sure they exist.
In doing so, I'll be draining this country, that so patently needs me, of one of its better resources. I might come back when I retire, to live in some sleepy seaside town, and contribute nothing to the economy. Frankly, though, I'm getting fed up with giving to an economy that doesn't seem to be giving me anything back.
I'm probably not alone.
Neil Treeby.
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From:
no subject
I think a lot of stuff in the UK could be improved - but it could get a hell of a lot worse. I certainly don't see the USA as being a shining example of perfection - in fact quite the opposite ;)
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no subject
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no subject
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And I've never heard of a train delayed here because of the "wrong kind of snow". :-)
From:
no subject
(I fully appreciate that potholes are inevitable in a continental climate at 40 north.)