It's hell out there.

Perhaps the most common question people ask, when they find out I'm planning on moving back to the US, is 'Why?' The undertone is always some gaping question, how dare I choose my country (which everyone knows is full of hambeasts and plebs) over their precious England? What could possibly be better about home? My solution to this potentially explosive situation is to mutter something non-committal about my 94 year old great grandmother who might kick it any day now. They can't really argue the devotion of a great granddaughter considering her family above comfort.

The truth is far more complicated than simple family considerations. My reasons vary from hellish customer service to my inexplicable development of asthma. And as stupid as it sounds, one of my primary reasons for leaving is the comical state of public transport.

This was my diary for the week:
Monday at 8:30am: Was told by train staff my connection was full. Boarded train to take long way and be late to work, hopefully just not as late. Get into Manchester Victoria and discover that the trams stopped working due to a power outage impacting their signalling. Eventually get into work around 10:00 after trams come back.

Tuesday: Early start to greet bosses when they step through the door at work. Get on absolutely packed tram from Deansgate. The one before, at 8:30am, didn't turn up.

Wednesday: Discover a million people at the tram stop. Later tram turns up but is absolutely heaving. Woman next to me tells me that they waited for an hour for a tram due to some mysterious problem.

Thursday: No trains from Atherton thanks to broken down train at Hindley. Go to Bolton and barely make it to work on time.

Friday: Leave work at 6:00pm expecting to get the 6:09 tram to Manchester so I can catch my various connections and trains. Discover delays and head back to the office. If I miss my Wigan train, there's one hope to return. However, pretty much anything going from Piccadilly via Bolton is risky.

I'll admit it's rare that every day something prevents me from getting home or work. But as the years go by, things are escalating from once or twice a week to once or twice a day. I'm doubly cursed with public transport thanks to trams and trains, both of which are equally decaying, neglected and unreliable.

What can you do? Obviously, you write to the companies running these dreadful things. But what you always get back are platitudes and excuses about a lack of funding and investment from the government. They say they're very sorry and are endeavoring to make things better. Sometimes they completely deny anything is wrong at all. They never bother explaining why, after 6 years, there's still no improvement (indeed it appears things are running worse) to any of their services. If you're lucky, they'll give you a voucher.

Here's a sample from the only person on e-mail customer service, Ann Coleman:
We are in receipt of your email, which has been forwarded to us from the
GMPTE to respond to the points you have raised regarding the Metrolink
system.

We are sorry to hear you have been disappointed with the service. It is
true to say that the Metrolink service has suffered from the congestion
on Mosley Street, which at times caused major delays to the service.
However, this situation has been much improved and latterly there have
been no problems.


Uh huh. No problems at all right? Besides there's been something wrong with the Metrolink service almost every day?

I wrote to my MP, Andy Burnham, two weeks ago on Friday and only received an acknowledgement. I wrote to Lord Smith of Leigh and didn't receive that much.

The GMPTE is utterly, utterly useless as well. Pretty much refusing to deal with passenger issues directly. (Even though they're supposed to manage the services.)

In the end, all avenues are completely shut off. The MPs aren't bothered, the transport companies are in denial or have a litany of excuses and the papers are tired of letters to the editor with people complaining about getting to work.

Well, except for Boris, obviously.

Perhaps if there was a whole country of Boris Johnsons, things would get fixed. But the last 6 years here left me with a nasty taste in my mouth after biting into English politics. No one actually seems to be interested in doing, well, anything. In places like Greater Manchester, the MPs are so sure of victory in future elections they just don't bother with platitudes. The citizen and consumer is being failed on a massive scale, leaving plenty disgruntled and angry.

The ignorance and neglect of public transport, for me, is symbolic of issues with the whole of Britian. No one is interested in delivering a good service. They want study groups, congestion charging and more oversight committees. They want to pour over timetables instead of forcing train companies to do the simple things, like buy more trains. It's a situation that emphasizes the utter powerlessness of anyone living in Britian today. The wheels are too complicated, too large to move by any campaign or situation. And people lack faith in all government, so they don't bother.

At least I have a choice to leave. More the pity for the people left here under this weight of denial and ineptitude.