'Every single one of us now has Google Maps open': Traveller live-tweets train trip that gets cancelled en route, then travels with strangers for hundreds of miles in a taxi

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Sep 27, 2023 11:00 AM EDT

You can hope for the best, but sometimes travel plans are just out of your control. One traveller, @JamesNokise, shared his recent journey that spiraled into chaos. He writes in a Twitter thread that he intended to take a 4:40PM train from London to Edinburgh. It started off well, until around 7:25PM, when he got a surprising email from the train company---they were cancelling the train. As Nokise recounts, "This was a surprise because: a) I was still on a moving train [and] b) there had been no announcement on the moving train."

From there, this poor traveller had quite the exciting night. I'm sure he just wanted to get to his destination quickly and easily, but instead, he ended up in a taxi cab with strangers on a lengthy journey. He tweeted throughout the night, detailing the wild journey from start to finish. He wasn't the only one: it seems like hundreds of people were also stuck in the same situation, stranded far from their destinations. You can check out the entire thread of tweets below. 

After that, these movers ended up refunding their customer---because they knew that they packed her belongings so quickly that her things would shatter as soon as she moved her truck!

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  • 01
    Automotive lighting - TAXI ALEXI
    via Lexi Anderson on Unsplash
  • 02
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise I'm not quite sure how to explain what's happened tonight, because it's still happening - but here goes... At 4:40pm I jumped on a train from London to Edinburgh.. It was comfy, it was quiet In hindsight, too good to last...
    via @JamesNokise
  • 03
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise Around 7:26pm I received an email that my train had been cancelled. This was a surprise because: a) I was still on a moving train b) there had been no announcement on the moving train
    via @JamesNokise
  • 04
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise About 10mins later the train manager came on the speaker to say they "heard from passengers" (!) that the train had been cancelled and was going to investigate because everything looked fine to them.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 05
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise Shortly after that, they informed us that the "rumours were true" and the train had been cancelled and would be terminating at the next stop: Preston. "Where is Preston?" you may ask. Only god and Northerners know. Even the scot's weren't sure.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 06
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise So we got off at Preston. Apparently there was a connecting train to Glasgow we could get that was being held so we could jump on it. It turned out that train was full, so as we arrived, it left. It was around 8pm, and we were told to wait for the next train.. at 9:42
    via @JamesNokise
  • 07
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise Preston Station has a few cafes, and they all were shut except for one coffee stall who saw a couple of hundred people on a platform and went "they won't need food or hot drink" So they closed at 9. No one noticed because at 8:50 the train we were waiting for was cancelled.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 08
    Font - 2 James Nokise @JamesNokise It turned out there were no more trains "North" after that and, excitingly, no forthcoming information. Some people stood staring at the screens. Some people queued to ask the one ticket booth worker the same question everyone else was. No one knew anything.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 09
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise Around 9:20 news came down: Alternative transport had been arranged. Bus? An extra train? Horses? No. Taxis. For hundreds of people. To a city 3 and 1/2 hours away.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 10
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise Except we weren't all going to Edinburgh, because it wasn't an express train. Some were going Glasglow, some to Dundee, Carlisle, and other stops. But all of us queued to be taken away 3-7 people at a time. And if that sounds slow and ridiculous, it was.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 11

    He included a photo of the crowd waiting for assistance.

    Building - FR FZ & VOYAYAHAVA THE TATIO
    via @JamesNokise
  • 12
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise Take a moment to appreciate how long the trip to Edinburgh from Preston is, how long the return journey would be. Think about how big the fare would need to be, and then try and estimate how many various cabs were needed to shift a couple of hundred people off home.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 13
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise Somehow I ended up in the last cab with 3 other strangers, all guys travelling alone. Probably the correct people to be catching the latest cab in terms of safety. And also the cast of a 70's British play. The time was 10:30. The train was due at Edinburgh at 10:15.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 14
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise We left the station, and then he pulled into a petrol station to fill up and "grab some snacks" Fair enough. The driver then asked us, while holding his android phone, what the post code for edinburgh station is. We said there two stations. He called his boss.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 15
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise He explained he is only paid to take us to one station and that is Edinburgh station. We explained Edinburgh has Waverley and Haymarket, but he probably meant Waverley. He said he would drop us there and only there, as though we were trying to trick him.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 16
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise After a bit of light banter, we realised we all were staying near the same station. The oldest of our "Cab Team" asked if the cabbie might drop us at our locations, since he was getting a flat rate, and he was not in fact a train, bound by rail lines. the cabbie refused.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 17
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise So now it is midnight, and I am in a black cab in the middle of nowhere (well, the M6) with three strangers who are all asleep. One is snoring. I'm tweeting mainly to both stay awake, and also because I'm worried I went insane somewhere after Stafford and this is a delusion.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 18

    It's quite the drive!

    Map - W 00:02 1 Stirling Ibride M74 Falkirk ΤΗ ΕΥ of Fleet dbright lway Firth Dunfermline Livingston Edinburgh Peebles Moffat A74(M) 2 hrs 23 min Fastest 2 hrs 24 min Dumfries Penicuik Lockerbie Workington Whitehaven N Lake District National Park Seascale Wigton Patterdale Galashiels Langholm Hawick Gretna Green M6 2 hrs 36 min Jeaburgn Carlisle Northumberland National Park Penrith Blackpool Windermere M6 Ulverston Barrow-in-Furness Kendal Dunbar Lancaster Garstang A1 Appleby-in- Westmorland Pre
    via @JamesNokise
  • 19
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise I will provably give some updates, but also better conserve my phones battery because, as you can see, there's still 2hrs 20min to go...
    via @JamesNokise
  • 20
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise At 12:05 am our cabbie decided to change lanes without indicating and almost crashed into a mini- van overtaking him. So now the two of us passengers that are oldest are awake, and we have checked that the cabbie is too. He has not responded, but he has used the indicator.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 21
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise At 12:37 we crossed over into Scotland, which is my first time changing countries in a cab. After a couple of "incidents", our cabbie has pulled into a services to get a coffee. I have released my grip on the side handle. The other older passenger has gone to the toilet.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 22
    Vehicle - TAXI
    via @JamesNokise
  • 23
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise To be fair to our cab driver, it is late, it's a dark highway, and he's driving a city black cab not meant for this road. It's not an easy drive and he's doing a decent job. Here's our chariot with the moon
    via @JamesNokise
  • 24
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise So the coffee machine was broken. The cabbie has brought 2 red bulls to be safe. The other older guy has got an ice cream. In the grand kiwi tradition, i've bought a bag of jube-like lollies for the cab. We've all shopped together so it's not a "thing".
    via @JamesNokise
  • 25
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise No one else in the cab is keen for 1am lollies, and that sort of makes sense. This email we have all received is the current talking point. Your trip on 25/09/2023 at 16:40 is eligible for delay compensation from Avanti West Coast. Compensation Original ticket price Delay ALT £70.00 View calculation £70.00 3h 0m Compensation is an estimate, the final amount will be confirmed once the claim has been processed.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 26
    Organism - James Nokise @JamesNokise Things were running smoothly there for a while, but there was some confusion at the turnoff to Edinburgh and we've come off the M74 and then accidentally gone back on it, still heading North. We've got another chance coming up soon. Otherwise it's off to Glasgow.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 27
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise He's at the junction, and... he's nailed it! We're on the A70, and about an hour out from Edinburgh. Should be there around 3am, which is about twice the time the original train journey was supposed to take
    via @JamesNokise
  • 28
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise The A70 is less of a UK highway, and more a NZ highway in that it's narrow, dark, full of turns and occasionally just dips. A real motion-sickness nightmare of a road. It also has, I kid you not, a random traffic light in the middle of nowhere.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 29

    Here's the random stoplight

    Atmosphere - 58 1
    via @JamesNokise
  • 30
    Organism - James Nokise @JamesNokise I have to apologise to the A70. It turns out we took another wrong turn and ended up on the A72. We've now corrected onto the A73. Thanks to the guy who messaged "I don't know where you are but that's not the A70" A terrifying if educational message.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 31
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise Every single one of us now has google maps open. The "closed road" sign has really deflated the cab. It's hard to even remember the train now.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 32
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise Some of you have pointed out - and I think it's worth having in the thread - that perhaps.. just possibly.. Throwing money at cab drivers and getting them to drive several hours in the middle of the night... Might not be the best contingency plan for Train companies to have
    via @JamesNokise
  • 33
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise We're inside the ring road. So very very close. Sort of relieved quiet giggles amongst us. Or it's a shared mania taking over. Then he turns right out of nowhere and suddenly we're in Edinburghs backstreets. The driver's GPS has taken him of course again!
    via @JamesNokise
  • 34
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise I've intervened. He's switched off the GPS. I didn't yell. I may have said "I think your GPS may be evil and doesn't want any of us to see our families again". He's trusted the four of us. It's his first time in Edinburgh. We're almost there.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 35
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise For those concerned, the cabbie is driving back to Preston tonight. Says he's fine, and hey maybe he is. But it's pretty twisted that he doesn't get taken care of by either his company or the train company hiring him. Made sure he knew the quick way out of town via a servo.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 36
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise The other old guy lives within walking distance of where we stopped, one of the young guys also lives close by. The other young guy is form Chile (surprise fact at the end) and so called an uber straight away.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 37
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise I took the photo of the sign, had some luck as an Edinburgh black cab came round the corner. He said "jump in pal, I'm not being r de, I'm just on the phone to my cousin in America". I've finished this tweet after paying him - end of the journey.
    via @JamesNokise
  • 38
    Font - James Nokise @JamesNokise Thanks for being on this journey with me twitter. A truly insane odyssey. 5hrs late, 11hrs after I jumped on the train. I'm gonna have a shower and eat something. Let's never do this again
    via @JamesNokise

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