Coping with Train Misery by James Nokise

There are many ways to cope with a rail journey from hell, Helen Pidd writes for The Guardian. When the New Zealand-born comedian James Nokise found himself on an 11-hour odyssey between London and Edinburgh recently, he live-posted the misery.

Nokise took the 4.40pm Avanti West Coast service from London Euston to Edinburgh, expecting to arrive at 11.21pm. All was well until the Pendolino was approaching Preston and Nokise received an email telling him his train – the one he was sitting in – had been cancelled. And so began his masterclass in social media storytelling, Pidd writes.

Nokise posts:

“About 10mins [after departing London] the train manager came on the speaker to say they ‘heard from passengers’ (!) that the train had been cancelled and was going to investigate because everything looked fine to them.

“Shortly after that, they informed us that the “rumours were true” and the train had been cancelled and would be terminating at the next stop: Preston.

“‘Where is Preston?’ you may ask.

“Only god and Northerners know. Even the scot’s weren’t sure.”

Original article by Helen Pidd, The Guardian, September 26, 2023.