Towards the end of the flight I thought I'd better check on my return train. The internet on SAS is free for gold card holders and has worked reliably on the six flights I have taken. But on the subject of working reliably, the same cannot be said for UK rail services. My train is cancelled. Looks like my recommended replacement will get me home over an hour later. But since I am an optimist at heart, and was near the front of the bus, I bolted off when the doors opened to give myself the best chance of seeing what could be done.
The e-gates at MAN worked first time with no queue. So up in the lift for the walk down the tunnel to the train station. Watching the monitors as I enter I see that then next train to picadilly is in 40 minutes. But there is a train with people jumping on it. So I jumped on it and asked the guard, "Picadilly?" he said yes. The people behind me weren't so lucky as he manually closed the doors on them and explained through the closed door that they weren't getting on. And away we went.
Now time to find out what we can do to get home. Grrr, the next train to Stoke is the one I would have got had I waited at the Manchester Airport station. But wait, what time does this train arrive? There is a train to Stoke that departs 2 minutes after this one is due to arrive. Could I? As we arrive at Picadilly I am positioned by the door, jump off and get the the elevators up from Platform 17 before the crush of other passengers gets there. There is a bridge that connects the platforms right at the top of the escalator, so no need to go down to the main station to connect across. It has been raining so the bridge is slippy and I can't go very fast, but I walk straight across to platform 4 and see the train there. Down the stairs and push myself through the door with a mass of returning football passengers. So I am now on time to get home an hour earlier than I expected rather than over an hour later. The guy in front of me has also come from the airport train, his wife is wearing heals rather than sports shoes, so is still not on the train and it's about to leave. Luckily she makes it just as the platform guard closes the doors and there is just about room for her to get inside. There is a bit of jostling, but luckily we are all so jammed in that's impossible for anyone to fall over. Various passengers are debating what stops we are at as we go. There's no way to move to see the station names on the platform and there are no announcements. I recognise the Stoke platform when we get there and as I am negotiating my way to exit, can hear a lady asking if this is Macclesfield and being informed she's missed it. Well, every day a little rain falls somewhere, today was her turn not mine.
Home to bed in plenty of time to start work at 6 am the next day.