Grit and gravel

Gruff train driver perks up CRN news editor Doug Woodburn's morning

I'm going to begin my first blog by bigging up my gravel-voiced train driver.

He did to my commute this morning what the grit did to the snow yesterday.

CRN, along with many London-based channel firms, have faced two days of disruption from the tube strikes and now the white stuff.

Such delays can leave you feeling not a little ragey. But not so this morning, thanks to the gruff but kind-hearted captain of my train who ensured all the passengers in his charge left with a sense that we were all in it together.

With the comic timing of Les Dawson, the silver-tongued engine steerer veered off script to compare the epic journey with that of Jason and his Argonauts two thousand years ago. Being compared with a Greek mythological hero instantly dissolved any despair I felt and set me up nicely for the day.

What a change this makes to the normally mute train drivers of National Express East Anglia.