Is the train late?

I’m still not feeling very well, but don’t worry, nothing you can catch by visiting this blog.

In an attempt to ease my troubled mind I had a look at the National Rail Live Departure Boards, which tell you whether trains are going to be delayed. I think it could be quite useful if you are, for instance, going to a station to collect someone who has just arrived on a train. I typed in a few stations and found that there are, for instance, minor delays this lunchtime at Birmingham New Street if that’s of use to anyone out there. There are of course always delays at Birmingham New Street, it’s just a question of whether they are minor or major.

But as Paul (via whom I found the link) notes:

What this service doesn’t tell you is whether the staff at a station know which train is which, whether your friend has been put on a London train instead of a Manchester train. It’s also ignorant of whether the replacement bus service they’re on has just glanced sideways into a tree.