My God, sometimes I really feel like the rail service in this country is in no way superior to that of a developing nation. I caught a train before 8am this morning with the expectation of being in Manchester before half nine. For the first hour or so of the journey, things went swimmingly well and I even managed to bag myself a seat. Around nine we pulled into Stoke on Trent and a few passengers disembarked from the train. We continued to sit there for a few minutes, then there was a sudden announcement that all trains northwards were cancelled until further notice and could we all please get off. (more…)