When Public Transport in London goes bad...

Ah – let me indulge in a little rant/whinge about TFL… London's normally really good public transportation agency.

Now, normally, I’m a positive guy and a huge fan of public transit in the UK, which is generally reliable and a good way to get around town.

But last night, through a combination of poor signage, service closures, and a mistake by me, I was in for a rather longer journey than I had planned.

The story starts with my catching a bus in from Luton Airport to London. I lucked out and even one 30 minutes early, which foolishly let me think “Sweet! I’ll be back just in time for the last tube train around 12:15 – home by 12:30.”

Foolish, foolish Mike.

Step 1: 11:45pm - Got off at Baker Street tube.
Step 2: 12:00am – Switched trains at Edgware Road to catch the train labeled “District Line to Wimbledon” – my perfect train.
Step 3: 12:10am – Find out that there were no more District trains; have to instead go to Paddington. Irony is that my last train would have taken me 80% of the way.
Step 4: 12:30am – Arrive at Paddington, and after a long walk across the deserted station, find out that the last train has just left.
Step 5: 12:40am – Outside the station, found a #36 bus seemingly labeled “Victoria Station”. Quickly board, thinking a quick transfer at Victoria would be perfect.
Step 6: 1:00am – Getting more and more confused where the bus was heading – finally learned it was going in exactly the wrong direction.
Step 7: 1:30am – After waiting in the slightly dodgy Kilburn, catch a #6 to Marble Arch/Hyde Park.
Step 8: 2:00am – An accident stopped traffic, but finally take the N73 to Putney Bridge (and very close to my house)
Step 9: 2:30am – Our bus stops suddenly ends at Victoria, where (my bad) I find out that I misread the schedule, and that I wanted the N74.
Step 10: 2:45am – Finally get the N11 to Fulham.
Step 11: 2:50am – A final taxi ride to my flat.

Let’s review:

Kerry, Ireland to Luton Airport, London: 450 miles by plane – 1 hour.
Luton to Baker Street: 32 miles by bus – 1 hour.
Baker Street to my house: 5 miles – 3 @#$ hours!!!

There. I feel much better. :)