A business passenger arrives into Heathrow for a business meeting in Blackburn. She has never been there before - poor soul. She catches the Heathrow Express and uses the plugs and Wifi - and he is encouraged to do so. She then catches a Virgin train to Preston and uses the plugs and Wifi - she is encouraged to do so. She thinks, "People say England is a bit backwards, particularly outside London, but it is not tooo bad. She then catches a Northern Rail train. Once the lady in question has recovered the use of her spine she realises that her phone is out of battery. She need to ring the company she is here to tell them that she has arrived. She looks around the train and finds one in a vestibule. She is very relieved as she is in an unfamiliar place without means to communicate with her host. Then a friendly Songs of Praise guard comes down and starts spouting on about theft of electricity. She feels threatened, but also confused, as all the other train companies she travelled with encouraged her to stay connected. It gets worse as the Songs of Praise guard calls in the BTP. She gets the next train to Preston, back to Heathrow and a dinner with friends a couple of months later explains how backwards England is - well certainly the northern bit and that she decided not to invest in the region.
There is a serious point here. Northern Rail passengers are rocking about on sub-standard trains often travelling at low speeds through and to poor stations. When your assets are at there worst, your attitude needs to be at its best to at least partly compensate for the state of the infrastructure. My daily commute on a Pacer to Harrogate was only ever saved by the friendly face of the conductor, who I believe was called George, who generally could not do enough to help. Sanctimony should be saved for Church - although most Churches hate it as well.
