I don’t walk slow. In fact despite my legs being some inches shorter than most of my family and friends I am referred to by the, I presume modestly flattering name, "The Strider". Which is just as well. Not sure how many who read this blog ever have to travel by train from Glasgow Central to Paisley Canal Street. But it now leaves from Platform 11A. Not 11, and not 12, but 11A. And no it isn’t a take-off of Harry Potter, but it might as well be.
Platform 11A is a good 5 minutes walk from the entrance of the Station from Gordon Street. Now I don’t mind walking – I do it quite a lot. But if a train is 4 minutes walk from the first illuminated timetables it does kind of put pressure on you if you assumed that arriving at the station a couple of minutes before the train leaves, and you’ve already bought your ticket, you have a decent chance of catching it. Just last Tuesday I watched a number of elderly folk (older than me, and walking slower though trying to walk faster) doing the long walk to 11A – more than one has muttered, not so soto voce, ‘Are we walkin’ hame?’
Is 11A the longest train platform in Scotland? Should passengers be given a discount for walking the first 500 metres? Is there a case for courtesy buses, or buggies for non-striders? Or are we just so used to convenience that we need the occasional Platform 11A to remind us that walking is a natural, healthy human activity? And of the 34 million who use it each year, how many are going to paisley canal Street anyway, huh? In any case, First Train aren’t going to reconstruct a classic Victorian train station, built in 1879, for the convenience of passengers travelling to Paisley Canal Street.
I may encounter 11A later today as I go to hear my Doktorvater, Professor David Fergusson deliver his second Gifford Lecture. First one on the rise of the new atheism was a good contextual introduction. Tonight we get stuck into the implausibility of religious belief. On the assumption they will be published, I’m not taking notes – just listening, thinking, and enjoying. By the way, ‘Stuff and Nonsense’ refers to the first part of this post – this last paragraph is why it is followed by the ‘Theology’ category. Just so’s you know!
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