The Perrin Award

You remember the Perrier Award for best comedy act at the Edinburgh Festival? Well I'm going to introduce the Perrin Award for best comedy announcement at the Euston Fiasco - or West Coast Main Line, as it's sometimes called.

Commuting has a big part to play in conditioning the quality of my working life and in recent months the daily shuttle between Birmingham International and London Euston has been beset by more delays than usual - usually (and ironically) because of work to upgrade the line. There was the day I arrived at Birmingham international to be told by a mournful man in a hi-vis jacket "I'm sorry, we have no trains" and there've been several occasions when I've arrived at Euston on my way home to be confronted by a crammed concourse and an announcement that all trains are cancelled indefinitely because of multiple signal failure in the Bletchley area.

 And so to this morning.  The train slowed to a crawl and arrived late. Why? "Sheep on the line in the Milton Keynes area." Bleating about the delays no doubt...