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Twee fragmenten uit The Trains Now Departed: Sixteen Excursions into the Lost Delights of Britain's Railways van Michael Williams. Eerlijkheidshalve moet ik toegeven dat ik ze niet uit het boek zelf citeer maar uit de boekbespreking in het tijdschrift The Spectator van 11 juli 2015.
It is sometimes tempting to wonder if, deep in every railway operations HQ, there is a department whose sole job is to think up ways of corroding the experience of passengers. Here are seats that don't line up with windows, garish plasticky train interiors, an incomprehensible fares system, a cacophony of endless announcements….
The conspirators against railway charm do their work thoroughly, and they have a sick sense of humour. Accordingly, the site of Blackpool Central is now 'one of the biggest car parks in northern England'.
Het lijkt wel over onze treinen te gaan...
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