Reasons for delayed trains – 2

I have decided to keep a list of reasons for delays on trains:

30th November 2006
GNER – first train delayed due to ‘plastic bag on overhead lines’
GNER – second train delayed (a different train from the one above) due to ‘weather in the Aviemore area’ – if there wasn’t ‘weather in the Aviemore area’ I would be even more concerned

26th November 2006
First Trains – going to London – signals struck by lightening, missed our arrival time in to London (as we were delayed), therefore no platform free.

Update (1st December ): Interesting piece in todays Guardian (UK). A train in the southeast of the UK was delayed because it ran out of sand, yes sand… (The sand is used to help the trains get a grip on slippery rails) – Full story in the Guardian: A new train of thought in rail excuses (great (or awful) pun – depending on your taste in humour).

Why keep a list? Well, I do a lot of business travel for MMISoftware and over the years I have personally heard (or read about) a number excuses, my favourite is ‘leaves on the line’ and the best two I have read about are ‘wrong sort of rain’ (an excuse given for delays in Manchester a few years ago) and ‘wrong sort of pollen’ (last summer (or the one before), pollen released from Rape (a yellow flowering plant grown for oil) fields clogged air filters on trains causing the engines to overheat).