Double chaos on TGT today. Intending a short trip to Oxfam books with a heavy load, I found the stop near the Tube is closed, so had to proceed to the next stop. Hobbling back to the pedestrian crossing near the shop, I found that this too is closed, and the only way to cross was by dodging between vehicles mostly stuck in both directions. On emerging, I hesitated between going to the 440 stop on Bath Road, or going down to the E3 stop at Chardin Road. I made the wrong choice. Not only was there the queue in both directions on TGT, there was also a large delivery van parked and unloading, causing even more obstacles.
After about 15 minutes, the van left, and several E3s came along. I boarded the first, then we waited for the lights to let some waiting traffic through. At the phase, precisely 2 vehicles got through before the lights changed. We then waited at least 10 minutes, as the lights seemed to be dead - there was no red signal, or indeed any signal, from the lights by the High Road. Meanwhile, all other traffic moved normally, including pedestrians and delivery scooters. By this time I was exhausted from standing, and just wanted to be home. My rapid errand had taken me almost an hour and a half. |