An all fired disaster

On Tuesday I set of for home to get the 1745 from Cannon Street.   I had had an alert from South Eastern saying that trains were subject to delay and cancellations due to ‘problems on the line’, but these arrive regularly and rarely mean anything.   The live departures board said the 1745 was scheduled on time, so as I headed over Southwark Bridge I presumed that this alert was just another false alarm.

However, it wasn’t.  

When I got to Cannon Street it transpired that there had been a fire in a signalling control room at London Bridge and, as a result, no trains were able to pass through London Bridge, either from Cannon Street or Charing Cross – a situation that was likely to last for several hours.   So we were all directed to go to St Pancras.

Cannon Street had been a disaster, but a reasonably well run disaster with decent information.   St Pancras, on the other hand, was the opposite.

It often looks as though High Speed is a totally different company from South Eastern and the High Speed staff clearly resent it every time they have to accept ordinary tickets without a surcharge.   The acceptance is, at best, grudging.

This evening they clearly knew they had problems so kept all passengers downstairs on the concourse to prevent platforms from becoming overcrowded.   That had a semblance of sense (though some disadvantages which we will see shortly) but sense left the room after that.

A sensible approach would have had two queues leading one to each of the up-escalators, one for Faversham line trains and one for Ashford line trains.   But no, there was just one queue and a disorganised one, at that.   It snaked here, there and everywhere with no clear start or end.   As a consequence, when they announced a Faversham train, the whole disorganised mass surged forward.   Even if anyone had wanted to, there was no prospect of any ticket check.   One man dropped his Blackberry which was then trampled under foot – he was wise enough not try and pick it up, otherwise he could have been trampled on, too.

I was washed along with the crowd and found a Dover train waiting, empty, for passengers.   It should have been twelve cars, with one portion going to Dover and one to Canterbury – and the announcements kept saying that it was – but it was actually only 6 cars and no-one knew if it would go to Dover or Canterbury.   The best thing was to get on and change, if needed, at Ashford.

We left about 7.10 – very late – and the driver clearly did his best to make up some time, running as fast as I have experienced on those trains, only to be held for 10 minutes just outside Ashford.   Why, no-one knows.   It was hardly other train movements as there were none.

When we got to Ashford it transpired that this train would run through to Dover.   The platform scene was chaotic, as might be imagined.   Most of the platform staff were hiding in their office (though one woman did her best to try and help passengers) with the result that when a train did appear out of the dark, nobody really knew where it was going to go.

The good news is that all the trains would stop at every station, and I only had to wait 15 or 20 minutes before another High Speed train came in, bound for Canterbury and Margate.   Arrived at Chilham at 9.00 – nearly 2 hours late.

Storm Warnings

St Jude’s storm was the most severe storm in the South East for many years and the winds were especially strong in Kent.   So some form of disruption on Monday morning was inevitable.   Warnings started to be given on Saturday and by Sunday morning most of the train companies in the south had said there would be no trains before 9am.  SouthEastern did not say this but, rather later in the afternoon, said it was possible that trains on some lines would not start before 9am.

On Monday morning, therefore, my first call was to the SouthEastern website, which still gave the conditional message of the previous afternoon.   And, under train cancellations, it listed half a dozen trains to and from Sheerness, and nothing else.   Specifically it said no cancellations on the Ramsgate – Canterbury – Ashford line.

How naiive anyone would be to believe this as, much as expected, on the National Rail live departures site it showed every train before 0900 cancelled.   Far more believable, I thought.

As the morning wore on National Rail started to show a train at 0959 – a bit later than 9am but I suppose a 0930 start from Ramsgate just about counts.   I needed to get to the office so I got ready and drove down to the station.   At 0950 I checked again and the train was still running, albeit about 10 minutes late.  Along with half a dozen other aspiring passengers we waited for the train and about 1015 it appeared in the distance.   Only to run through the station without stopping!

I pressed the enquiries button who told me that there was disruption this morning (I might have missed this) and then said that it probably didn’t stop because the train was full.   On asking about the next train I was told it would be at 11, but they could not confirm whether or not that train would actually run or, if it did, whether it would actually stop at Chilham.   Pretty much worse than useless I thought.

As the day wore on I monitored the train and though South Eastern claimed to be running an hourly or half hourly service on all except a very few minor lines by early afternoon.   As is often the case, this was not true.   In fact no trains were going through Ashford at all except the high speed services to London, and they were not venturing east of Ashford either.  In fact, there were no trains running in East Kent at all until late in the evening when two trains came through from Charing Cross.

Once again SouthEastern has proved wholly incompetent and unreliable on the information front.   It is so dishonest that they publish optimistic statements which then are wholly unfulfilled

Victorious?.

Overrunning engineering works mean that this morning’s train is diverted from Cannon Street to Victoria.   Leaving aside the question as to why a City train is diverted to the West End (Blackfriars would have been better), what makes it worse is that the train is timetabled to go so slowly – with more than an hour allowed from Sevenoaks to Victoria, giving an overall average speed of less than 30mph.   Even the all stations train from Ashford to Victoria via Maidstone East gets there nearly 15 minutes sooner..

Poles Apart

I have to go to Poland, to a small town called Zakopane in the far south of Poland, not far, in fact, from where I met with the Slovaks last autumn, but just the other side of the Tatra mountains.

Flying to Krakow, there is only a choice between Easyjet and Ryanair.   Easyjet has only one flight a day which would have been suitable for going out but would have needed me to stay a further day coming back.   I will not fly on Ryanair so that left me with connections.   The best looked to be via Vienna, using a similar connection to the one I used going to Kosice last year.   This time, however, I would use Austrian all the way partly because it was cheaper and partly because there is a shorter transfer time.

Indeed, outward, there is only a 30 minute transfer time but Austrian advertise this and the flight from London has a good timekeeping record so I thought I would give it a go.   I know Vienna Airport reasonably well so that, too, would help.

The flight from London was 0915 so I caught the 0605 from Chilham.   This was on time, though there is a long wait at Ashford - about 25 minutes.   I also got my high speed upgrade tickets on the train and was offered a gold card discount for the return journey.   We'll see how that works coming back.

A very smooth trip to Heathrow meant that I arrived at 0755 - pretty good, I thought, and was quickly through security.   Then the problems started.

Fog was the issue and the flight to Vienna was delayed by one and a half hours so I certainly wouldn't make my connection and went to change the ticket.   Mine was not the only delayed flight.   Two or three Lufthansa flights had also been delayed or cancelled so there was a long queue.   Fortunately the business class queue was not too long.  I say fortunately, but there was little they could do.   I had to go back through arrivals to the ticket office outside.

Here, after another wait, I was rebooked through Warsaw, and would only be an hour late and had a slightly longer connection time in Warsaw - about an hour.   But, checking in with LOT, their flight was delayed by an hour, too, so that was no good. 

Another wait in the queue led to a third ticket, with a two and a half hour connection in Warsaw.   This should be possible, but it means I will be nearly four hours later than planned.

I was slightly dreading going to Poland today in any case, after England beat Poland 2-0 last night at Wembley.   Going via Vienna would have avoided all the football fans but going via Warsaw will not.   We'll see how things go.

We were eventually called to the gate at about 1120 – 25 minutes before the flight was now due to depart, though it was clear that the incoming plane had only just arrived.

Getting to the gate displayed another aspect of the paranoia that infects both the security and immigration departments over the prospect that arriving passengers might come into contact with departing passengers.   In most other parts of Europe the jetty opens up onto the departure lounge and arriving passengers must make their way through departing passengers into a one way system which takes them through passport control, customs and out.   Automatic gates ensure that there are definitive one-way gates at key points, so that you cannot avoid passport control, if arriving, or security, if leaving.

But the British are so obsessed that there must be a hermetic seal between arriving and departing passengers.   I don’t know what they think might happen.   Perhaps a departing passenger would use duty free to buy something to give to an arriving passenger?   Perhaps a terrorist could carry a bomb on one plane and the, having arrived, give it to a departing passenger?   Frankly it all beggars belief.

What it means in this case is that, as the pier is only one storey, whenever a plane arrives, the passage for departing passengers must be closed off to allow the arriving passengers through into the arrivals area.   When they have all arrived then the passage for departing passengers can be opened again.   With a delay of 10 minutes or so – so don’t be late for your plane!

One aspect of being re-routed is that I have a new airline and another new airport to sample.    The airline is LOT from Poland and the plane was, as I expected, full of returning football fans.   But they were quite quiet – either dejected or respectful, and, frankly, I didn’t mind which.

We eventually pulled away from the terminal just over an hour and a half late, then took another 25 minutes before we took off.   This means we will arrive in Warsaw, between an hour and 40 minutes before my connecting flight leaves.   Fingers crossed.

LOT business class does not, I’m afraid, particularly impress.   Like most business class flights in Europe, it’s basically the same economy seats with the centre seat left vacant and a curtain dividing it from the economy section.   So the seats are no better or worse.   Catering though, was slow to get going, and while they nicely gave us a linen cloth for the tables, the food was not particularly appetising and the portions smaller than most.  Nor was the wine that good, but it passed.

We arrived in Warsaw with about an hour to connect.   This was a reasonable time, with no queue for passport control.   There was about a ten minute delay for security and then another ten minute wait at the gate before boarding a bus to the plane.

The plane to Krakow was a Q400 so, as with the flight from Wien to Kosice, I had to put my bag in the hold and collect it on leaving the plane.   We left a few minutes early and arrived in Krakow about 15 minutes early with a packet of cheese biscuits and a glass of water to while away the short flight.

Tomasz collected me and we had a two hour drive to Zakopane through driving rain – not nice.

Zakopane is a rich and historic ski resort, with its own style of architecture – known as Zakopane style – which blends log cabin with arts and crafts. The result is quite spectacular with gables on every side and carved wood everywhere.    In the morning I had about 20 minutes after breakfast to walk through the town centre and see some.   I wish I had had longer.

I did my presentation first thing and when we broke for coffee at 11, Andrszej introduced me to Jack, a student who would take me to the airport at noon.   I said we had no need to wait and left immediately – or almost immediately at 1115.   It was a dry morning, misty but with the sun breaking through and it was far pleasanter than yesterday evening.   The autumn colours were glorious here, though it was the tail end of autumn in Poland, not the start as in Kent.

The Polish side of the Tatras is far more developed than in Slovakia, with far fewer remnants of communism.   The buildings all seem to be either pre-war or post 1990, though the styles are very similar and it is hard to be precise about their age.   No traces of the serried ranks of 1960s flats you can see in Warsaw.

It is only 100km from Zakopane to Krakow airport but even with good weather it took us nearly 2 hours, which did surprise me.   Jack has very little English so I dozed most of the way.   It still meant that there was a wait of just over 2 hours before my plane left so I had a beer in the outdoor café before going into the lounge.    Krakow is a very small airport and sadly had only a very small range of shops.   I had hoped to see knitwear because all along the road from Zakopane there were roadside stalls selling sheep and cowskins and beautiful jerseys and socks.   I expected they would be relatively cheap.   But I had no cash to stop and buy. Only if they were for sale in the airport did I have a chance.

The lounge in Krakow is no great shakes.   They had drink but only crisps and snacks to eat so I had to buy a sandwich from outside.

We boarded the plane early and left early.   Another Bombardier Q400 rather than the Fokker 100 I had expected.   This time the flight had business class, even though it was no longer a flight than from Warsaw to Krakow.   I was the only person in it which was quite nice.   They served a reasonable lunch, which was better presented than in LOT and a nicer quality.   The wine was better, too.

We landed about ten minutes early in Wien which left a reasonable time to connect.   Even then I had only time in the lounge to have a bowl of soup and to ring Tom before the sign came up saying ‘go to gate’.   I waited another five or ten minutes (just time for a glass of prosecco) before going to the gate, even though the flight had not yet started boarding, because most of the later flights had.

It was a long walk to G31 and just after I got there, business class passengers started to board, so my timing was quite good.   A row of seats to myself was nice and we left Wien about 10 minutes late.  

As with the flight from Krakow, presentation and quality of the food was good – a bit better than BA I would say, the wine, though, is dished out by the glass rather than by the bottle, which effectively reduces consumption.

Arriving on stand at 1855, I stood no chance of getting the 1900 Heathrow Express which, in turn, meant that I wouldn’t catch the 1940 from St Pancras and so wouldn’t catch the 2035 from Ashford.   Half an hour later from St Pancras onwards would have to do.   At least, I thought, I wouldn’t have to hurry between Paddington and King’s Cross.  

Surprisingly the Heathrow Express was nearly 15 minutes late arriving in Paddington so I did have to dash across to the Underground and just made the 2010 from St Pancras.   The good news was that the 2035 from Ashford was running 20 minutes late, so I wouldn’t have got home any earlier even if we had been on time

Sunday Blues

We went to London on sunday, driving to Ashford.   Fortunately we had 20 minutes before the train left (at 1045) because there was only one ticket window open and a queue of about 25 people waiting, and only one ticket machine working.   Sadly the person actually using the machine was not familiar with how ticket machines worked and spent so long checking that she had ordered the right ticket that the machine defaulted into stand-by mode so she had to start again.   Even then when she came to pay she exhibited a familiar syndrome - 'oh. does this mean I have to pay' - and started to hunt through her bag for her wallet and credit card.   By which time the machine had gone back into stand-by and she had to start again.   She took 15 minutes to buy a simple ticket and we only just caught the train.  You do wonder why some people seem so ill prepared for buying tickets.

Fares Fare

I really struggle to understand SouthEastern's fares policies sometimes.

Since the high-speed services started I have needed to buy a supplement.   Wierdly, an offpeak return supplement is not just cheaper than two singles, but cheaper than even one single, so I have generally bought returns when using the high speed in the evening   It only saves a few pence, but why pay over the odds?This year the prices are £5.60 single and £5.20 return.

Or were, becasue in the last week prices hve been adjusted.   The new pricing policy is even wierder becasue the supplements are higher for Chilham than for Ashford, even though the high sopeed trains don't stop at Chilham and, even if they did, it's a slow speed service from Ashford onwards.

So there are now fourdifferent fares for single/off-peak return and for Ashford/Chilham.   These are £5.20, £5.40, £5.60 and £5.80.   Logic would suggest that te £5.20 would be a single to Ashford, £5.40 a single to Chilham, £5.60 a return to Ashford and £5.80 a return to Chilham.

But being SouthEastern it doesn't work like that.   £5.80 is indeed a return to Chilham, but a return to Ashford is still £5.20.   T my mind asking extra for the Chilham return ticket is fraudulent becasue absolutely nothing is added.   However, the single to Chilham is £5.40 and the single to Ashford is £5.60.

Can anyone explain that?

Going to Turkey

Two years ago I was invited to a seminar as part of Inter Traffic Asia  in Istanbul and the same has happened this year.   Somewhat against my better judgement (I wanted the tier points to retain my silver card) I let the turks book me on Turkish Airlines.   At least they were happy (or at least prepared) to book me buysiness class so this has become another comparison with BA.

My doubts increased at first when I tried putting in the booking code onto the Turkish Airlines website only to be told 'this reservbation has been cancelled'!   Luckily I checked well before I was due to go so that Mr Savas, from Ispark, could rectify the problem.

Remebering my last visit I knew I had to have £10 to buy a visa at the Istanbul Airport, but by being quick off the plane there should be no queue, and business class would help that.   The dya before I left I found out that I could get a visa electronically, but sadly I felt I had left it too late to try.   A mistake, as I was later to find out.

Checking in on-line was reasonably straightforward and I suppose all airlines are pretty much the same.   Sadly the plane looked full, with only one other empty seat in business class which was a bit of a shame.   But it was an intercontental plane - a 777 - which meant lots of room.

I had a quick trip to Heathrow, just catching a circle line train at King's Cross without having to rush, which led to the same result at Paddington.   Overall, 2 hours door-to-door.   Having torn my boarding pass on the way, I got another printed out for me which turned out to be a good thing as they also gave me a pass to the fast track passport control desks.

The Star alliance lounge in terminal 3 is not quite as nice as the BA lounge - a little more cramped and the food selection not quite as good, but otherwise it was OK and at least the plane was going from a proper jetty and not via a bus, as BA flightls do.   The sign came up 'baording' a bit earlier than I thought it would, about an hour before we were due to go, so I went to the gate only to find they were lying and there was another 20 minutes wait before boarding actually started.

It was a nice feeling to get on the plane and turn left and there certainly was plenty of room on board.   A lie-flat seat with a footstool though no proper stowage, but also popwer and a large socktailcreen in the back of the seat ahead.   Not too much of a problem having someone beside me, though, as it happens, that seat remained empty, along with almost half of the business class section - so much for the check in screen.   It was a nice touch that they served drinks before take off - a flavourful raspberry (alcohol-free) cocktail.

Departure was about 15 minutes late and it made me wonder why they had hurried people to the plane.    And it wasn't late passengers holding us up, it was loading baggage.

Service on board was generally very good and the food was better than BA by a conbsiderable margain.   Lunch was a very good meze, followed by a choice of three main dishes (I had salmon and sea bass), a slad, desert and cheese.   I had a choice of turkish or french wine so I chose the turkish sauvignon blanc,, which was also good.  The crew were attentive and friendly, but with 4 crew four 14 passengers I think they should have been.

The announcements, though, were almost inaudible.   Whether this was for the benefit of businesss class I would not know but if there had been a problem it might have mattered.

There was a wide range of entertainment, which I didn't use, but they also had wi-fi throughout the flight and power which was great.

Landing at Istanbul was not as easy as I remembered.   Although I was first off the plane there was a 20 minute queue to get a visa.   It’s a simple money making exercise – pass over your money and get a visa stamp, no questions asked.   The another 25 minute wait to go through the ‘fast track’ passport control.  Within the EU, even in the UK, I can usually be out in 10 to 15 minutes (famous last words, I hope not)

Ahmed Savas met me at the exit and we went out into a warm turkish evening – 28 or 29̊.   Fortunately on this occasion our hotel was only about 3km away.   Nevertheless it took 30 minutes to get there.   No arrangements for this evening but I had dinner with Ilja Irmscher who I met last time I was in Istanbul.   He is probably younger than me but looks and acts as an old man.   His English is merely adequate so dinner was a bit of hard work until Ahment returned having picked up Giuliano Mingardo and another Dutchman, Jos van der something or other.

I get on well with Giuliano and Jos was also interesting as an econometrician and it was fun to talk to them.  Sadly Ilja got a bit left out, partly because of his poor English but more  because I can trade blows with economists (not that blows were needed) and can talk their language well. So we became more academic which is fun for me because I don’t do it too often.   If I don’t take care it’s far too easy to be immersed in academia.

The evening ended a bit suddenly because Tom rang to say than Mum was not well.   I had to act as a bit of an intermediary.   Fran is not helping by alternating between panic and lack of interest.

Thursday morning we left the hotel just after none for the conference hall at the Inter-Traffic show.  A bit bigger than two years ago but otherwise similar.   I had two presentations in the morning which seemed to go well.   Mr Gurbetji, the previous general manager has been replaced by Mr Cevik.   Mr Gurbetji has gone on to have political aspirations which doesn’t surprise me.   I met him at the coffee break and I think we both recognised a kindred spirit.

In the meantime I had a strange and formalised encounter with Mr Cevik.  In his world we had to trade entourages and all I could offer was Giuliano, Jos and Ilja.   Still I was clearly seen as the leader.

Giuliano, Jos and I went back to the hotel in the afternoon.   None of us could really stomach another session of a Turkish conference with poor translation. I had a doze and then a beer before we set out for dinner.

Dinner was at Florya, a seaside resort on the edge of Istanbul.   The restaurant was a very modern and minimalist building (with Victorian central European style fittings) with a fine balcony overlooking the Sea of Marmara.   There was a formal launch of the Turkish Parking Association (good for them) and I gave a congratulatory speech.   Once again Laurence was proved right in that I can make a passingly good speech with less than a minute’s notice.  It was bland but had the right sentiment.

Friday dawned warm threatening hot and the two Dutchmen and I declared UDI and went to see the heart of Istanbul instead of going back to the conference.   We went to Haigha Sofia but the queue was so long we didn’t go inside but walked through the grand bazaar instead.   When I was last there 30 years ago it was still a living market but now it is just for tourists.   The surrounding streets are better and more authentic.   Still a nice building, a proto-mall if you like.

It was certainly hot as we walked over Galata Bridge then had a glass of fresh orange before taking the tram back to the hotel.   Wednesday and Thursday evenings and this lunchtime we sat in the garden with two stray cats (there are cats everywhere in Istanbul) and it was so pleasant to be warm and outside.   A bit like a hot summer’s day in England though it’s only May here.

Packed, Giuliano and.I (we had lost Jos at the Galata Bridge) headed back to the conference hall to say goodbye to Ahmet.   We ended up sitting through another conference session and I handed out awards.   But it was good to meet Tod Litman.   Giuliano is to establish the academics group and Tod has offered Rachel Whitbred who chairs a new TRB sub committee on parking.   Things are moving and I must ask Shaun his view.

Giuliano and I had taken the metro to the conference and had planned to go back and take it the final stop to the airport, but the Turks would not hear of it.   So Ahmet took us to the airport.   I couldn’t get Giuliano into the lounge so we had an interesting beer before he and I went our separate ways to London and Amsterdam.

The Turkish Airlines lounge is huge and better than BA even at T5  with chefs circulating with cheese and fruit and a hot meal available.

The flight back was an A321, narrow bodied compared to the 777 wide body.   Not quite as much room but the seat  was certainly better than BA short haul business class.   Service was also not quite as good as on the way out, and once they had served dinner they basically forgot about us.   I sat next to a director from Tesco, who drank like a fish and kept ringing the bell to ask for more.

An easy departure from the plane and a pick up from Brian saw me home by 11.   Although we landed early, I wouldn’t have made it back before half past midnight on public transport unless I had been very lucky with connections at both Heathrow and Paddington.

A day in Berlin

A day trip to Berlin seems a long way t go but it's not actually too bad.   It did need an early start, though, and I drove to Ashford to get the 0543 to St Pancras.   I had a reasonable amount of time and if I had really pushed it I could have got the 0640 from Paddington but I didn't run so just missed it, catching the 0655 instead.   It still gave me plenty of time to have a coffee and a bacon roll in the lounge at terminal 5.

The High Speed trains really have made a difference in getting to Heathrow.   Before it would have been.   Previously, the best I could have done would have been nearly 3 hours door to door, now it is 2 hours.   This is one of the occasions when St Pancras is far more convenient that Charing Cross.

The BA flight was on time leaving and a few minutes early into Berlin, despite being a very cold day to begin with.   Tegel airport in Berlin is small and well laid out so that I was being met by a driver within 10 minutes of landing.   In theory, Tegel should have shut and been replaced by the new Brandenburg Airport.   This was due to open last September but the opening was postponed only 2 weeks before the expected date and is not now expected to open even this year - over budget and very late, how un-German!

We went to visit the hotel/congress centre for the 2015 Congress.   This is not in the centre of Berlin but on the ring railway on the south east corner.   This will be convenient for the new airport if it opens in time.

The gala dinner is to be at the Historiches Museum which is on the Museum Island in the heart of Berlin.   This is a fine 19th century building with a very modern roof over its classical courtyard which will make for a fine dinner.   But the entrance is very modern - one of the last works of I M Pei and gives a fantastic contrast.

Plenty of time from there to get to the airport so I took the train and visited the new Hauptbahnhof.   Truly a cathedral of trains on 5 levels - a modern variant on the gothic version in Antwerp.

BA kindly let Toni come into the lounge with me and we had a chat and a beer which passed the time away before the plane home left.   This also left on time and there was a very attentive cabin service in club.   It helped that there were only 4 in the cabin.

Arriving back at Heathrow we touched down 10 minutes early, which would have helped get me to St Pancras for the train back without a lengthy wait.   I say would have, because we were parked at a domestic stand and (courtesy of the Border Force) an international flight cannot use a domestic stand because of 'contamination'.   So it was buses and a disembarkation from the rear.   This meant instead of being first off and on to the 2027 Heathrow Express from terminal 5, we were last off and had to wait for a bus to come back and for all the stragglers to get of the plane.   With a huge effort I just made the 2042 just as the doors were closing - thank heavens I had no luggage.

I thought my luck was in because I had only 3 minutes to wait at Paddington, but the Circle line was going slowly and I arrived at King's Cross with only 4 minutes to connect to St Pancras.   Now that I am past 60, the effort of running from the Circle Line to the South Eastern platforms at St Pancras almost killed me but I did just catch the train.   I did not fancy another 30 minutes wait at that time.   But it took me until Ebbsfleet to get my breath back fully.   Two and a quarter hours from touch down to back indoors at home.

You just can't win

At Ashford at 0700 two trains leave in a flight.   The first, which I normally take, goes to London Bridge and Cannon Street and the second to Waterloo East and Charing Cross.

This morning, as we waited to go there came an announcement that there were delays of 30 minutes through Sevenoaks, so we would be diverted through Maidstone East.   The Charing Cross train, on the other hand, would take the normal route.   So we should have been on the best train.  

As we left, the anticipated delays through Sevenoaks rose to 50 minutes, making our train even more a good option, notwithstanding some slow running.   It soon became apparrent that we were travelling behind a stopping train that was due to leave Ashford at the same time as us.

We came up through Chislehurst rejoining the usual route about 20 minutes late and reached London Bridge nearly 25 minutes late, while the Charing Cross train, far from being delayed by 50 minutes - or even 30 minutes - reached Waterloo East only 3 minutes late.  

It's a very starnge event.   Having made a sensible quick decision to divert our train from Ashford to avoid unneccessary delays, they sent us out just behind a stopping train.   Had they held he stopper for 3 minutes, it would have been 3 minutes late (potentially recoverable) while we might have been closer to time.   As it happens, if no-one had used their initiative we probably would have been closer to time in any case.