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 In theory, Tegel should have shut and been replaced by the new Brandenburg Airport.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.
Sunday, 31 March 2013
Monday, 18 March 2013
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.
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.
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