3. Station announcements

Use these words to complete the texts:

calling	delay	change
running	arrival	standing

1. We apologise for the late … of the 8.10 from Cambridge. This train will now arrive at platform 2 in approximately 15 minutes’ time.

2. The 4.45 to Portsmouth is … approximately 20 minutes late. We apologise to passengers for the … and any inconvenience this may cause.

3. The train now … at platform 4 is the 7.45 for London Victoria, … at Gatwick Airport and East Croydon. Passengers for London Bridge should … at East Croydon.

4. Vocabulary exercise

Match the words with their definitions below:

1. a single ticket	a. a ticket which allows you to travel any number of times during the stated period
2. a return ticket	b. money that you are asked to pay
3. a season ticket	c. A ticket which allows you to travel to a place but not back again
4. a through train	d. something arranged for travellers
5. service	e. it allows you to travel there and back
6. charge	f. a train going from one place direct to another when passengers do not have to change from one train to another

5. TRAVEL STORIES

1. L ook at this picture of Dave Lewis. Did he have a good or a bad journey? Say why or why not?

2. Dave planned to meet his colleague Soloman in Brighton. Dave had a problem on the journey. Read the e-mail he sent to Soloman to explain the problem. Check whether your ideas were right.

3. P ut these events in the correct order.

H e got off the train and left his things on it.

He saw a guard.

He worked for some time.

The guard said the train wouldn’t leave for 10 minutes.

The train didn’t move.

He felt hungry.

He bought a sandwich.

The train left without him.

He got on the train at Birmingham.

The train arrived in Oxford.

He took his wallet.

6. R EADING

Rearrange the paragraphs in the correct order and fill in the gaps with the connectors from the box.

however (2)	first	therefore	finally	also
as	nonetheless	meanwhile	by the time

Take the Train? Well, Maybe…

1 I took the bus downtown to the train station, bought a ticket for Santa Maria, just 100 miles away, and went out on the platform to wait for the 9:02. That’s when the train trip from hell began. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

2 (a)______, the train was an hour late. (b)______, we were at the height of the tourist season, so when it finally did arrive, there seemed to be at least a million people waiting to board it. The quick rushed on, mercilessly elbowing the slow out of their way. I (c)_______ managed to board and tried to find a seat. There wasn’t one, though; I had to stand with five other people in the space between two cars. I was right next to the men’s restroom, which did not exactly smell like a flower garden. In fact, to say that it smelled like garbage dump would have been too charitable.

3 (d)_______ I was entering the dining car, a violent lurch of the train threw me to the left, causing me to lose my balance and land in the lap of a portly woman drinking coffee, which spilled on both of us. I apologized profusely. My apology, however, was apparently not convincing, for the woman just stared at me. I got up and went to order tea and a sandwich, which cost me $8.95, from an impolite attendant. The tea was lukewarm and virtually flavourless, and the sandwich tasted like a combination of sawdust and cardboard. I wended my way back to my starting place, but there still wasn’t a vacant seat. I was forced to spend the next hour and a half listening to the same man tell his life history all over again.

4 For half an hour or so the train just set on the track, not moving. A man standing next to me with extremely bad breath insisted on telling me his life story. I listened politely for a while; then I excused myself, saying that I hadn’t eaten breakfast. (e)________, the train had started, so I swayed back and forth on my way to the dining car, propelled violently by the motion of the now-moving cars.

5 It occurred to our chief editor, (f)_______, that maybe someone should be sent to find out whether trains are really as efficient and pleasant as they’re cracked up to be. I’ve written a lot of articles on transportation in the last several years, so I was the logical choice to do the investigation because I was considered an “expert”. (g)________ , I confidently set out on my journey one rainy Saturday morning.

6 (h)_______ the train finally arrived in Santa Maria, two hours late, I had come to several conclusions as to why people don’t take the train, if ours was any indication. First, trains are extremely slow; it had take four hours to go 100 miles. Second, the train was filthy and uninviting. Third, train personnel were generally surly and unhelpful. Forth, the tracks were in terrible condition.

7 Readers of our newspaper know that we favour the increased use and development of mass transit over the building of more highways. For years we’ve supported those who have been calling for the development of a regional transportation network whose components would be heavy rail, using existing tickets that the big trains run on; light rail, which would mean building new tracks that trolleys and small trains could run on; better bus service; and a metro system. Heavy rail tracks are already there, so heavy rail has got the most favourable press.

8 So does this all mean that I’m now anti-train and pro-highway? No, I’m still a supporter of mass transit. (i)_________, I’ve learned that the situation isn’t nearly as simple as we at the newspaper have been portraying it. All over the country we’ve allowed trains to deteriorate. We must make them viable again if we expect people to use them we’ve got todemand excellent, efficient service. That will take money, perhaps (gasp!) even a tax increase. (j)__________, it would be well worth it.