Jubilee Line Delays

Urgh...got stuck on the tube for nearly an hour this morning, I groaned when I turned the corner towards the barriers to see an unmoving wall of people, but peering over everyones heads I could see that they were allowing a trickle of people through the gates, so all was not completely lost...I did, for a second, consider heading for the boat, but being already delayed I opted for skirting the mass of bodies (dashing briefly through the pouring rain outside) and sneaked into the Northern Line entrance (not the best secret shortcut, but the terrible weather ruled out a trip quite that far while exposed to the elements)...I wove my way through the crowd listening to announcements telling me that the Jubilee Line was part suspended and we were all being advised to seek alternative modes of transport and finally hit the escalator down to platform level...there, I watched 3 full trains go before I managed to barge onto one, managed with a deft wiggle to sneak into the aisle between the seats (the preferred place to stand, as you have guaranteed newspaper room), hung on for dear life as we pulled out of London Bridge, got Bermondsey out of the way fairly quickly and then just sat in the tunnel for about 40 minutes, the driver coming onto the tannoy system every few minutes to explain to us (in some rough approximation of English) that we weren't moving because there was a red signal (really?) and this being is thanks to "a passenger on a train in Finchley"...as good as an excuse as any I suppose, but I did start to wonder (after about 20 such announcements) if he was ever going to actually tell us what the passenger was doing on the train to cause the delay...he then started mumbling something about fires, which (apart from causing some concern) created a mental picture of commuters huddling round them for warmth - then - without a single word of warning he jammed on the accelerator causing several people to loose balance and topple into those standing around them (to much tutting and ruffled smoothing down of designer suits)...the announcements at Canary Wharf were being done by someone with an ounce more IQ, it actually turns out these naughty passengers were actually being taken ill on the packed trains, the trackside fire had been earlier on, causing the initial delay that was causing people to collapse, the whole thing forming up into a big self-perpetuating wheel of woe...

The rain, when I finally emerged into it at the Canary Wharf end, was actually rather welcome...I love the commute... ;)