Monday, December 20, 2010

Wununder

Refusing to be daunted by the white stuff we set off to Islington to meet a friend for lunch in a smart restaurant. Normally the husband would have taken the car but the plan was to be sensible and go by tube.
He checked online first that the tubes were running while I stood at the kitchen window drinking a cup of coffee - now that the leaves are off the trees you can see the carriages flashing past in the distance (this far out, the line is overground). Both of us satisfied, we set out and duly boarded the first train on the principle that when it come to the underground service, get as far as you can as soon as you can and change, rather than wait for the train the indicator boards claim is going straight to your destination.
It was as well we did, because, almost as soon as we had boarded, the driver announced that the service south via Bank had been suspended due to a wununder at Moorgate.
The non-English speakers around us (most of the passengers) looked a bit puzzled. I was a bit shocked. I knew what the driver meant but I'd always thought that was how TFL staff referred to such incidents - not how they told the travelling public.
Next time the driver made the announcement he said there was a person under a train.
Couldn't help thinking how sad it was - especially for the person's family, if they had one. And for the tube driver.