Death on the Virgin Express
Our train was just pulling out of Coventry station. As with typical Sunday services these days, the Virgin Pendolino was chugging along a little more slowly than usual at 70mph.
Then it happened. At first, I did not recognize it as such. There was a thud on the underbelly of the train that sounded like something was being dragged along the tracks. I suspected, as did the bloke across me, that a part of the engine had fallen off. That suspicion was reinforced when the train slowed down to a halt.
Anyway, I was busy working on a plan on my laptop and as long as I’ve got ‘juice’ , I was willing to sit out any delay. The passengers around me didn’t seem too troubled too.
After a few uneventful minutes, the train manager announced on the PA that a ’serious incident’ had occurred that will cause a ’severe delay’. Additionally, he ‘didn’t know how long the delay would be’. I looked out the window and noticed that we were in the middle of nowhere.
There were sighs of frustration all around. That was my cue to get up and pick some ’supplies’ from the snack bar. I needed ‘juice’ on my laptop but I reckon if we were to sit it out longer, I would need water and a few chocolate bars too.
Amazingly, there was just one other person on the queue and I wondered whether the rest of the passengers were not bothered enough, or whether they had water and chocolate bars already to last them through.
Anyway, the lady at the bar remarked sheepishly that she thought somebody had committed suicide. It was probably the manner by which she had said it or probably because it was just still suspicion then but I didn’t feel any shock or sympathy.
When I got back to my seat, word has spread around. The train manager has gone from carriage to carriage telling people there had been a suicide.
It didn’t strike me that people were as concerned for the poor fellow as they were for the inevitable delay the situation caused. People made calls, wandered back and forth the train. Some were even cursing the fellow for jumping ‘too early’ i.e. he/she should have waited for the next train.
After 2 hours, the train moved on and we were asked to get off at Birmingham, as the train needed to undergo safety checks. A lot of people grabbed refund forms. I grabbed one too but I don’t think I will be filing a claim. It is not everyday that you experience these things. It was not the fault of the train company and I thought they handled the situation rather well.