I assume my regular morning train begins its journey at Harwich. I can think of no other explanation for why there always seem to be – or seemed to be - so many Dutch people cluttering up the barriers at Liverpool Street Station.
When you commute, you soon get used to the daily mundane rituals: the same faces on the platform, the same excuses offered by the train driver for late arrival, the same gaggle of confused Dutch tourists…
The problem the Dutch always face is that their tickets don’t work on the automated barriers. And so you have these huge Dutch folk (average height, six feet, two) all pulling massive wheeled suitcases, all grouping together for safety and all back-tracking and tripping over each other at the ticket barriers. “It shays ‘sheek ashishtance’” I heard one Dutchman wailing to a railway official as he waved his scrap of ticket at the ticket barrier.
But this morning was a breeze. No delays at the barrier and no Dutch tourists to be seen. Either they’ve all decided to go to Eindhoven for their holidays or the travel agents in Holland have belatedly found a way of issuing tickets which are recognised by English ticket barriers.
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