Any news on what the "mainline problems" were that cancelled all
Heathrow Express trains today? I got to the T123 platform about 1155 to
go to T4, to find the platform crowded. We were told that the 1159 train
had been cancelled because of a broken-down train on the main line and the
HE having to be returned to Paddington. At 1204 we were told that the 1214
had left Paddington, the line had been cleared, and the train would arrive
in about 8 minutes. Around 1215 we were told the train had entered the tunnel
and would be there in four minutes. Twenty minutes later, the announcement
came that the train had not, in fact, entered the tunnel, it was blocked
by "mainline problems" and there would be no more trains in either direction
for the foreseeable future.

I skedaddled for the Central Bus station and was 3rd in line for
a 55x bus, but there is only one of each (of three) per hour on Sundays.
I made it that they should come at 01, 21 and 41 past the hour; it was now
1235. By 1250 hordes of American tourists had found the bus-stop too,
with lots of large bags and no idea of the queueing system. I found myself
behind a dozen or so tourists and a couple of tonnes of luggage and no sight
of a bus -- my flight was due to go at 1355... A US lass and I decided to
try for a taxi instead, so we found the taxi rank, and _its_ queue. By
the time we made the head of the queue it stretched way, way back. £20
later I presented myself for priority check-in at T4, and found myself
arriving at Gate 17 some little while after boarding had commenced. I've
never been that close to missing a flight before...

Ironically, I was ready to leave home 20 minutes early (the U3
buses come every 20 minutes on Sunday) but decided not to catch the earlier
bus than I had planned. If I had, I would have been ahead of all the mayhem
and checked-in two hours early. :-/

--
Ivan Reid, Electronic & Computer Engineering, ___ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. Room 40-1-B12, CERN
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".