It all sounded too good after countless years/decades of underinvestment. A showcase £38.5bn major project to revitalise the economy and upgrade our creaking rail infrastructure.
Now the project is downsized as parts of the plan are shelved and Network Rail are left with the blame.
Interesting analysis on the radio, speculation was that since a major group restructure which saw the business centred around Milton Keynes, a lot of the top talent jumped ship rather than relocate, leaving a huge skills gap and lack of experienced managers.
My last experience of the train was turning up at the local (unmanned) station, to see that the next train to London was cancelled. The missus called the helpline which we found on a notice board, only to be passed to an Indian Call centre, who seemed to be struggling with the geography of the UK, and seemed to want to send us North rather than to London 
In the end, after getting no sense from the "help line" as to what was happening, I asked a train driver from the train that pulled in going the opposite way. He told us the problem was a broken down train, the line was blocked and Marylebone was a no go zone, and to head over to another station and get into London on a different line. Why the big display board couldn't have said that, or the message filter over to the Indian call centre is beyond me.
Love steam trains, but less impressed with their modern counterparts, and will normally drive if I can, or fly.
Anyone reliant on regular train travel for business? Are you happy with your service? Do you think your fares are reasonable and disruption minimal?
