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Dear happy commuters and supersaver ticket holders,


We in the Labour government are thrilled to unveil the exciting new name for Britain's renationalised train company. We'll be calling it Gordon Bennett Railways, because this mild expletive is what you're most likely to be muttering while on board, as in:


'Gordon Bennett, this train's fuller than a can of sardines.'


'Gordon Bennett, we've been waiting in this cutting outside Crewe for a sodding age.'


And: 'Gordon Bennett, the points have failed at Clapham Junction, and I'm going to be 20 minutes late for work again.'


We could have spent some taxpayers' money sorting out the problems at Crewe and Clapham Junction, but we blew it all on hiring an overpriced branding agency to come up with a new livery design for the locomotives.


They'll now be a lurid mess of red, white, blue and hi-viz yellow - flecked with dead leaves, graffiti and rust - which will have you exclaiming on the platform: 'Gordon Bennett, what a sodding eyesore.'


All aboard! Or, all a-bored! Which you will be, after waiting three hours for a train at Carlisle.



Image credit: stablediffusion.com


Saturday 27th September 2025 represents the 200th anniversary of the opening of the first public steam railway - and the first complaints about the railway - between Stockton & Darlington.


The first train ran 15 minutes late and generated a tsunami of complaints from travellers demanding refunds, some of which are still outstanding. Additional complaints were made about soot entering the carriages and settling on the stale bread used to make sandwiches.


Problems continued on day 2, with Stephenson forced to offer a replacement horse and carriage service. Complaints continued to dog the service, even after British Rail took over its running after the Second World War. The long standing issues were only resolved when British Rail closed the line in 1967.


Author: bobski (H/T deskpilot)

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