Gareth Potter (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} ickoonite) wrote,@ 2005-07-07 15:19:00 |
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Bombs
I write from work, and am thankful that the events that have unfolded this morning have not had any long-lasting effect on me. I was at Kings Cross, buying my ticket, when the bombs went off at 08:49. My ticket is stamped with that very time. Just as I was about to go into the station entrance, the emergency signs came on.
I am slightly unnerved, because I could have been on the train that was targeted between Kings Cross and Russell Square. At least 21 people on that train have lost their lives. I've been taking the Picadilly Line from Kings Cross at around that time for the past couple of weeks to get to work. I'm thankful I spent that little extra time on my hair this morning. You know, silly little details that one obsesses over after things like this.
I immediately thought that it was just a cock-up, a blip at Kings Cross, and headed for Euston Square. It started to rain, and I thought that it was not without irony that we had been so high-spirited yesterday, after the news about the Olympics. Our brilliant Tube network would ferry the thousands of spectators to the various events in the East End. This "blip", I thought, was just a reminder of how bad the Tube can actually get.
I walked to Oxford Circus and went down to the Victoria Line platforms. There was no indication of when the trains were going to go anywhere, so I came back up, and as I did, a PA announcement declared that no trains were running and that they didn't know when any would be.
Buggger. Typical.
I resolved to press on and walked south-west, heading in the Green Park direction. I caught the old 38 outside the Ritz and as we passed Green Park station I saw that the gates were closed and staff were directing passengers elsewhere. People on the bus were talking about how they're weren't any Tube trains running, but no-one knew any more than that.
A lot of us got off around Victoria, and I made my way to the Tube station. Staff there were directing people onto buses depending on their destinations, and I asked if they knew when the network would reopen. They didn't know. I had planned to go to Harrods for lunch today, and wanted to know if I could take the Tube to get there.
Outside Victoria there were masses of people, all wondering why the Underground station gates were closed. I just wanted to go to Clapham Junction and then on, southwards, to Putney, so got into the station and got on the first train I could find. As I waited for it to leave, I heard calls for British Transport Police staff to attend at platforms 4 and 5, if I remember correctly. I don't know if that was related.
On the train to Clapham Junction, one man said that he had heard that there had been explosions on the Tube, but he didn't know more than that. It was not until I got to work - 45 minutes late - that I found out that power surges had been blamed for the trouble on the Tube. News of terrorist involvement emerged later.
Marimo rang, my mother rang, Ed texted me, I rang my sister, who was supposed to have a job interview in London today. She was fine, safely away in Raynes Park.
And I'm thankful. The full details will doubtless emerge in the next few days. But I keep thinking - it could have been me.
I write from work, and am thankful that the events that have unfolded this morning have not had any long-lasting effect on me. I was at Kings Cross, buying my ticket, when the bombs went off at 08:49. My ticket is stamped with that very time. Just as I was about to go into the station entrance, the emergency signs came on.
I am slightly unnerved, because I could have been on the train that was targeted between Kings Cross and Russell Square. At least 21 people on that train have lost their lives. I've been taking the Picadilly Line from Kings Cross at around that time for the past couple of weeks to get to work. I'm thankful I spent that little extra time on my hair this morning. You know, silly little details that one obsesses over after things like this.
I immediately thought that it was just a cock-up, a blip at Kings Cross, and headed for Euston Square. It started to rain, and I thought that it was not without irony that we had been so high-spirited yesterday, after the news about the Olympics. Our brilliant Tube network would ferry the thousands of spectators to the various events in the East End. This "blip", I thought, was just a reminder of how bad the Tube can actually get.
I walked to Oxford Circus and went down to the Victoria Line platforms. There was no indication of when the trains were going to go anywhere, so I came back up, and as I did, a PA announcement declared that no trains were running and that they didn't know when any would be.
Buggger. Typical.
I resolved to press on and walked south-west, heading in the Green Park direction. I caught the old 38 outside the Ritz and as we passed Green Park station I saw that the gates were closed and staff were directing passengers elsewhere. People on the bus were talking about how they're weren't any Tube trains running, but no-one knew any more than that.
A lot of us got off around Victoria, and I made my way to the Tube station. Staff there were directing people onto buses depending on their destinations, and I asked if they knew when the network would reopen. They didn't know. I had planned to go to Harrods for lunch today, and wanted to know if I could take the Tube to get there.
Outside Victoria there were masses of people, all wondering why the Underground station gates were closed. I just wanted to go to Clapham Junction and then on, southwards, to Putney, so got into the station and got on the first train I could find. As I waited for it to leave, I heard calls for British Transport Police staff to attend at platforms 4 and 5, if I remember correctly. I don't know if that was related.
On the train to Clapham Junction, one man said that he had heard that there had been explosions on the Tube, but he didn't know more than that. It was not until I got to work - 45 minutes late - that I found out that power surges had been blamed for the trouble on the Tube. News of terrorist involvement emerged later.
Marimo rang, my mother rang, Ed texted me, I rang my sister, who was supposed to have a job interview in London today. She was fine, safely away in Raynes Park.
And I'm thankful. The full details will doubtless emerge in the next few days. But I keep thinking - it could have been me.
