My plan. To venture out of the Kingdom to do some work at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. I missed the Stagecoach by a whisker. It was an Express, a coach and an X57. The good news is that a classic double-decker arrived, a 7B at 8:15 am (On school days this service does not run) prompt.
The 7B has many destinations but the main ones are Dunfermline and then onto Kelty. It was a pleasure to see. The blue, orange and red branding was a delight to my eye. It came to my rescue. Just in time.
It does stop at my local station but the train service from Fife in my view does not seem to be reliable. Many trains are cancelled (See recent late trains and cancellations at the bottom of this article) and rail staff reduce the number of carriages at peak times. Therefore, they cram travellers into what seems to be carriages the size of sardine cans.
Therefore, I headed for my nearest main station, that is Inverkeithing. However, just before I entered the station I pulled my discount card out of my wallet and I discovered it had expired. Then I remembered…
It was that moment when I had a tiny twinge of conscience. The moment that I decided to go paperless or in this case card-less, This was a very small bid to save the planet. So I swapped my discount card for a discount app from National Rail (not ScotRail) on rail ticket prices that now resides on my mobile phone.
As I approached the station I happily liberated my phone from my pocket. On opening, I clicked on the Rail Ticket App. Hey presto the phone whirred and made some comforting noises
After what seemed to be forever, it then came back with a message…
‘Something went wrong please try again later.”
Well, I did, almost immediately! I needed that ticket. I had to be in Edinburgh sharpish.
More Whirs and a beep.
Then this very interesting message appeared
‘Something went wrong please try again later.”
My immediate reaction cannot be published here but I quickly jerked out of my pocket over £6 in cash. £6 for a single fare to Edinburgh! Ouch!
The train surprising ran on time but for some reason the 8:37 am was cancelled. I wonder why there is yet another cancellation
I fixed the app. Surprise, surprise it needed an update. So at the touch of a screen, the issue was fixed. Ticket lady said there could be no refund. Lesson learnt it will be back to the paper version next time I renew. I must say £2.33 discount on a ticket is a lot to lose.
Happily, I arrived at the Festival in time to hear all about the Victoria and Albert (V and A ) Museum in Dundee. You should be able to read the story here in the near future.
But I am still very puzzled why the app did not simply say…
‘Please update your app’ or ‘App out of date please go to Apple Store’
There really is no excuse for vague error messages like this in 2019
< – – – Some Recent Cancellations – – – >
August 12, 2019 at 02:40PM | 13:53 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 14:52 | 13:53 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 14:52 has been delayed at Inverkeithing and is now 11 minutes late.
August 12, 2019 at 04:09PM | 15:53 Glenrothes With Thornton to Tweedbank due 17:51 | 15:53 Glenrothes With Thornton to Tweedbank due 17:51 will no longer call at Kinghorn, Burntisland, Aberdour, Dalgety Bay, North Queensferry, Dalmeny and South Gyle.
August 13, 2019 at 08:01AM | 08:44 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 09:47 | 08:44 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 09:47 will be started from Inverkeithing.
August 13, 2019 at 03:10PM | 15:40 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 16:45 | 15:40 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 16:45 will be started from Inverkeithing.
August 13, 2019 at 06:35PM | 17:44 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 18:49 | 17:44 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 18:49 has been delayed between Rosyth and Inverkeithing and is now 8 minutes late.
August 14, 2019 at 03:26PM | 14:39 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 15:44 | 14:39 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 15:44 is being delayed between Rosyth and Inverkeithing and is now expected to be 8 minutes late.
August 14, 2019 at 03:37PM | 15:00 Edinburgh to Arbroath due 16:48 | 15:00 Edinburgh to Arbroath due 16:48 has been delayed at Inverkeithing and is now 9 minutes late.
August 15, 2019 at 11:14AM | 10:26 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 11:29 | 10:26 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 11:29 has been delayed at Inverkeithing and is now 10 minutes late.
August 15, 2019 at 11:34AM | 10:05 Perth to Edinburgh due 11:33 | 10:05 Perth to Edinburgh due 11:33 has been delayed between Inverkeithing and Edinburgh Gateway and is now 10 minutes late.
August 15, 2019 at 01:26PM | 12:28 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 13:39 | 12:28 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 13:39 has been delayed at Inverkeithing and is now 11 minutes late.
August 15, 2019 at 01:26PM | 12:41 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 13:42 | 12:41 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 13:42 is being delayed at Inverkeithing and is now expected to be 10 minutes late.
August 15, 2019 at 01:47PM | 13:48 Edinburgh to Glenrothes With Thornton due 14:51 | 13:48 Edinburgh to Glenrothes With Thornton due 14:51 will no longer call at Haymarket, Edinburgh Gateway, Dalmeny and North Queensferry.
August 16, 2019 at 03:17PM | 14:40 Edinburgh to Glenrothes With Thornton due 15:38 | 14:40 Edinburgh to Glenrothes With Thornton due 15:38 is being delayed at Inverkeithing and is now expected to be 10 minutes late.
August 16, 2019 at 04:47PM | 17:44 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 18:49 | 17:44 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 18:49 will be started from Inverkeithing.
August 17, 2019 at 11:46AM | 12:23 Cowdenbeath to Edinburgh due 13:06 | 12:23 Cowdenbeath to Edinburgh due 13:06 will be started from Inverkeithing.
August 17, 2019 at 03:19PM | 16:24 Cowdenbeath to Edinburgh due 17:10 | 16:24 Cowdenbeath to Edinburgh due 17:10 will be started from Inverkeithing.
August 17, 2019 at 04:19PM | 16:24 Cowdenbeath to Edinburgh due 17:10 | 16:24 Cowdenbeath to Edinburgh due 17:10 will be started from Inverkeithing.
August 19, 2019 at 01:52PM | 13:21 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 14:24 | 13:21 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 14:24 will no longer call at North Queensferry, Dalmeny and Edinburgh Gateway.
August 19, 2019 at 10:52PM | 22:05 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 23:09 | 22:05 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 23:09 is being delayed at Inverkeithing and is now expected to be 8 minutes late.
August 20, 2019 at 10:25AM | 09:23 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 10:34 | 09:23 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 10:34 has been delayed at Inverkeithing and is now 10 minutes late.
August 20, 2019 at 11:06AM | 09:23 Arbroath to Edinburgh due 11:13 | 09:23 Arbroath to Edinburgh due 11:13 has been delayed at Inverkeithing and is now 10 minutes late.
August 20, 2019 at 11:15AM | 10:05 Perth to Edinburgh due 11:33 | 10:05 Perth to Edinburgh due 11:33 has been delayed at Inverkeithing and is now 10 minutes late.
August 20, 2019 at 11:45AM | 13:21 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 14:24 | 13:21 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 14:24 will be started from Inverkeithing.
August 20, 2019 at 02:36PM | 13:48 Edinburgh to Glenrothes With Thornton due 14:51 | 13:48 Edinburgh to Glenrothes With Thornton due 14:51 has been delayed between Edinburgh and Inverkeithing and is now 10 minutes late.
August 20, 2019 at 06:18PM | 17:03 Perth to Edinburgh due 18:29 | 17:03 Perth to Edinburgh due 18:29 has been delayed at Inverkeithing and is now 10 minutes late.
August 21, 2019 at 08:37AM | 07:09 Dundee to Edinburgh due 08:48 | 07:09 Dundee to Edinburgh due 08:48 has been delayed between Dalgety Bay and Inverkeithing and is now 10 minutes late.
August 21, 2019 at 12:03PM | 11:38 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 12:39 | 11:38 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 12:39 will no longer call at North Queensferry, Dalmeny and Edinburgh Gateway.
August 22, 2019 at 10:19AM | 09:23 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 10:34 | 09:23 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 10:34 has been delayed at Inverkeithing and is now 13 minutes late.
August 22, 2019 at 10:38AM | 09:37 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 10:38 | 09:37 Glenrothes With Thornton to Edinburgh due 10:38 has been delayed at North Queensferry and is now 11 minutes late.
August 22, 2019 at 03:19PM | 14:37 Edinburgh to Perth due 15:55 | 14:37 Edinburgh to Perth due 15:55 has been delayed between Edinburgh and Inverkeithing and is now 8 minutes late.