Decency alive and well in the 21st Century
It's refreshing to see that decency lives on, even in this time of "I, myself and me", albeit this time it involved one of my lesser favoured organisations... yes, you've guessed it -Ulsterbus (aka Translink )!
A bit of background: I boarded the 1710GMT Garvagh 116 service from the Station in Coleraine, and presented my Translink Student Discount Card and gave the driver the regular fare for the journey. I was then handed my ticket and change. After a few seconds I went back to the front and queried it with the driver. He looked at the ticket again and admitted that he had made a mistake and undercharged me (the student fare should have been £2.70, but I was charged £1.65). He then said to keep the surplus £1.05, which I offered to add to make up the proper cost, seeing as it was nearly Christmas and sent me on my way. This time happened to be the complete opposite of my last dealings with Ulsterbus where I was grossly overcharged for the reverse journey.
It isn't often that when someone makes a mistake they let it pass - some in the same organisation would have acted in a completely different manner.
To the Ulsterbus driver, the name of whom I do not know, I tip my hat.
Trains, Ships and a whole lot of shouting
Yesterday I decided to go to the start of the Maritime Festival in Belfast, as it was the first time in 18 years (1991) that the Tall Ships had been in Belfast.
It all began yesterday morning, when I was waiting on the platform in Coleraine to get the 1015BST train from Londonderry/Derry to Great Victoria Street. It seemed that everyone had heeded Translink’s call to leave the car behind and use public transport to get to Belfast. The 1015 departure time came and went – people were still piling on to the train. Eventually someone decided that they were going to sacrifice the other 3000 Class DMU that was due to operate the Portrush Branch Line service, so we were all ordered off the train to allow them to couple the two together. Then the platform staff decided they weren’t going to do that so we were all ordered back onto the train, which lead to frustration as some were physically unable to board as it was already crush laden.
1030 came and eventually after much shouting and running up and down the platform by the Conductor we were on our way, having found a space in the vestibule area, along with about 13 other people who couldn’t get a space in the aisles –it was the same in the other carriages. Severely annoyed I decided to phone NI Railways Customer Services and gave them stink; about half an hour later they phoned back to say that “all available trains were in service” (which, when in Belfast transpired to be a bit of a lie, as two class 3000 DMUs were sitting at their Fortwilliam Servicing Depot and at least another one or two were at Yorkgate Yard). At the subsequent stops of Ballymoney, Cullybackey, Ballymena, Antrim, and Mossley West there were crowds waiting. They were all told to wait for the bus substitution which would be with them sometime.
Eventually we arrived at Central, and I got off, and went through Central and made my way along Oxford Street and over the Lagan Weir to Queen’s Quay. An hour and a half, some photos and a whole lot of walking, I decided to return to Central, where I waited for the 1425 train back to Coleraine. Honestly, I was glad to sit down! The train home was much a much more pleasant experience.
Lessons to be learnt:
1. After years of Planning, there should have been a 2nd train coupled on the Londonderry-Gt Victoria Street 1015 Service – what did they expect?! The usual half-full Belfast bound train? I do acknowledge, however, that rolling stock is limited in number, but surely it would have been better to get every train on the lines, rather than having them sitting at Fortwilliam, Yorkgate and probably Adelaide?
2. There should have been a greater appearance of a co-ordinated approach by all Translink (NI Railways) staff as this lead in part to customer frustration – I heard 3 different stories being circulated by 3 different Translink employees in Coleraine.
3. The people left stranded, while veritably annoyed, should have been more understanding and less hostile to the Conductor – policies for crush laden trains are there for everyone’s safety.
You can view my photos of the day here.
University Update
Well, I'm now into the 2nd teaching week of the Autumn Semester and thankfully so far there have been no major problems - all the rooms have been sussed out and have already got coursework to do 
The joys of the student life............. So far, everyone seems nice, students and lecturers alike, some more so than others.
At leas there's only 10 full weeks left of Semester 
University
Guess who's now a fully registered University student at the University of Ulster?!
That's right - after 14 years of a combination of Primary and Grammar School I've now progressed up the ladder to Full Time Third Level Studies following a programme which, at the end of, I will hopefully be a 'Bachelor of Arts of the University of Ulster with Honours in French and Spanish. Registration was on Monday 15 September 2008 at the Coleraine Campus and it was more a case of musical chairs (without the music!) as each student had to enrol for modules, have the form signed off, pay for tuition fees, send the form to the Registry Office and collect their ID/Library Card (which this year wasn't a pathetic piece of laminated paper!)
That done, there was an Induction for all YrI students in the Faculty of Arts, today - 16 September 2008 - whereby services of the University were outlined, tours of the campus and its facilites shown and queries raised. In the afternoon each had an interview with their Advisor of Studies. Al lthat remained to be done after that, for some, was to go back home and get pi*sed! Naturally I wouldn't do something like that...or would I? 