Let the train take the strain

I set off in really good heart - off to Project Challenge at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.

I was early for my train so I planned to have a cup of tea and then wonder onto the train. But I had not accounted for the really strong winds that cancelled my train. The next one was 30 minutes later but a group of us were told that "we do not know how long the train will take; we are estimating two and a half hours....." There were may people like me who simply abandoned their trips and returned home or to work.

I was left wondering the cost of this to the economy; the loss of learning for me and for others within Project Agency as I could not pass on any learning from the conference.

Today I woke up to a report from the National Audit Office (go to this link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7295682.stm for more details). The basic facts are:

*14 million minutes were lost by late running trains
* it cost the public £1bn in lost time

Alarming stuff!!

I travel by train to keep my car off the road and MOSTLY it is convenient but when it goes wrong we simply add it to the above figures. Had I gone by car I may well have been delayed by the road works (south part of the M1 near Luton) - so what do I do next time??

I wrote to the organiser apologising and suggesting next year they add a session on risk management!