for lunch with two friends... the only problem being the train, scheduled for 11.14 on Platform 3, didn't appear to be there. At 11.12 it was announced it was leaving from Platform 5. Cue passengers rushing around, some quite elderly, staggering with suitcases and near heart attacks. Train left on time, full of panting, hysterical, sweaty punters.

Why do they DO that?

The trains during busy times from and to Cambridge are usually packed - I've had to stand every single time on my last 20 odd visits.

I travel quite a lot on the trains, and I have to say only Virgin Trains seem to have invested in solving the various problems. They appear to be the only inter-city train company that has invested in new trains. (i.e. none of the old British Rail stock), and have tried to address the overcrowding problem by increasing the length of their trains. For example, the Birmingham Glasgow route used to use a 5 carriage train, but last December they started using 11 carriage Pendalinos. East Coast and Great Western still use old rolling stock from the last century!