Another blog about public transport :) or should I say :(
On a quit Friday morning I went to Breda, the bus came in time (and soon came clear why that was!) A trip from my bus stop to the station in Breda is officially 20 minutes. And let me tell you, this bus drive also made it in 20 minutes. Every red light we came across, he skipped and after a few emergence brakes (those strange pedestrians and cyclist who walk or cycle through a green light!) We made it in 20 minutes to the station. Then a short run to catch the train to Tilburg, and yes I made it. I sad in the train and it was time to leave. But not really because Prorail (the company who owns the train tracks in the Netherlands and make the timetables for the trains) thought it was a good idea to make 4 trains stop on the same platform. So after 10 minutes the problem was solved and we were off to Tilburg. Which we also did in 20 minutes.
I had lunch with Steve at the University, I complained a bit about my University and he was a bit nervous for his evaluation interview....so it was a good lunch.
Going back to Etten leur was less entertaining, I had to wait for 20 minutes on the station. That's okay, I was a bit sweaty and I needed the loo but apart from that I didn't mind waiting. I take that back because after standing there 2 minutes a family came standing right next to me (Tilburg West station has a particular long platform to wait on, but okay please stand right next to me!!) After both of the blond children stopped crying they decided to go annoy their dad by asking him every other minute: "can we have an iccccceeeecrrreeeaaaammmm". Yes after 20 minutes the train arrived, and the family went into the front part of the train. So I walked to the back part.
Arriving at Breda station I looked on my watch and saw that my bus would leave in 4 minutes. Nice, then I don't have to go by train (and I don't have to walk 25 minutes from the station to my house). Of course the bus did not came....after looking around at the bus station I recognised a few people who were in the same bus as I was last week. On of the fellow passengers came to me and sort of tried to be funny: "let's hope that the bus comes and that he knows what route to drive" (last week we had some problems with bus drivers who had no idea where to go and what busstops they had to stop). He did not know jet how right he was going to be!
After half an hour waiting we saw a bus coming. Then we saw someone in a white blouse walking to the bus, meanwhile all the people who needed to catch that bus were standing on the platform. At appeared that the guy in the white blouse was some kind of boss and said to the driver that he did not needed to drive. He said this because he was late. The company who owns the busses in this part of the Netherlands decided a few weeks ago to have a 'stiptheidsactie', this shortly means that bus drivers don't need to drive if they are late from their last route, or that they can skip bus stops if they think they are going to be late at their destination point. Marvelous idea of course!
The bus driver said he was going to drive anyway because he couldn't let all these people down (probably a good idea because next to me stood some angry housewives, they had become very red in the face and sweaty...or maybe they just had hormonal mood swings?!) The driver looked a bit like a convict who was just thrown back into society. But he wanted to drive so we were happy. It went well, until just before IKEA. There's a school and normally there are always people waiting at that stop. The bus before us stopped briefly, he wanted to drive away when everybody got in...but there were still 3 girls running towards the bus. He didn't really care, and took of. That pissed of my bus driver and he talked to him over the radio, well I call it talking it was more swearing and every now and then he took a short break to catch his breath. He apologised to us (he was from Dordrecht, didn't know that was an official excuse to go crazy but anyway). The fact that he came from Dordrecht did not really concerned us, the fact that he had only drove this route twice did concern the passengers a bit.
We got onto the motorway, and then he took the wrong exit. People got nervous and they tried to tell him how to get back to the other side of Etten Leur. He went around the roundabout and then he hit a very big concrete block. He damaged the wheel. Everybody got out, and he called the company. They said he had to come back with the bus to Breda and leave us behind and they would send another bus for us. Most people were already quit angry at the bus company and they didn't really believe they would send a bus they started walking in any direction. So there I was, on the industrial estate in Etten Leur, most people didn't even needed to be in Etten leur so they had no idea how to get to their destination. Some people knew there was another bus line close to where we got kicked out. So most people started to walk in that direction.
I on the other hand needed to go home, and that was a whole different direction. So I started walking towards the city center (27C and no wind, ideal walking conditions...and not to forget I needed the loo!) They guy who I ran into at Breda station (the one who tried to be funny, and his joke was a reality again, yes that one) also needed to be at my busstop. So we walked to the city center, came across 2 more busstops with a lot of people waiting at each one (not a sign that the bus was driving this route today). We promised ourselves an ice cream when we arrived at the center, but after 15 minutes of walking my fellow 'public transport victim' saw his old driver instructor. After some enthusiastic waving he came and asked us why we were walking here. After a short explanation we got in the car and he would bring us to our busstop. Well not really the instructor but the very nervous kid behind the wheel. He was driving around on the industrial estate, that normally means he hasn't been in the car very often. That last thing was a good guess, because he never had to deal with other traffic jet. After a scary 15 minute drive, he dropped us of at our busstop.
I said goodbye and walked home, I would love to say right now I'll never travel with the busses here anymore. Only I have to go to work soon, could go cycling but I rather not go further away then 5 kilometers. Last five years I have the idea that my bike could fall apart any minute. So back to public transport....
