I am one of those people who arrives early or on time. I plan my journeys to allow for unexpected things happening. Last Sunday I drove to Charles de Gaulle airport and stayed in the Ibis in Terminal 3 because my flight was the next morning. There is a shuttle running between the terminals and it takes 5 minutes to get to Terminal 2 from Terminal 3. What could go wrong? Well everything as it turns out.
The platform for the shuttle was more crowded than usual because apparently there was a 'minor' technical problem. I couldn't get on the first train as I was pushed aside by bigger people with even bigger suitcases. I nearly got on the second train but as my foot stepped on a man trod on it and took my place. There were no airport employees to control the crowd so like Lord of the Flies, the smaller and weaker people were overcome by stronger and younger ones. I wasn't worried about the time, I had plenty of it. When I eventually got on a train, it remained motionless with the doors open while more and more people piled in. I was bent over, unable to stand up, it was hot and extremely uncomfortable. The train moved and went for about a minute before it stopped between stations. I looked at my watch. The minutes ticked by and I started calculating like John Cleese in the film Clockwise. If the train starts in the next five minutes and it takes another 10 minutes I shall be ok.
After 15 minutes it started to move only to stop again. The announcement still said a minor problem. After 30 minutes the announcement said that the system was shutting down and we should go to the terminal and catch a bus. Are they kidding? We were packed like sardines on a train between stations with the doors closed. Someone called the emergency communication. I heard him begging for them to open the doors, people were nearly passing out with heat and lack of air. They must have heard the babies screaming. For safety reasons, the voice said they could not open the doors and just to add insult to injury played the tape saying we could get on a bus. I looked at my watch. If they could get us to the terminal in the next ten minutes I still had a chance.
That ten minutes passed and then a man in a high viz jacket walked down the track. He opened the doors of one carriage and the people started getting out and walking along the track. By the time all the carriages were open there were hundreds of people on the railway lines. You can't wheel cases so they had to be carried and some were huge. Pushchairs had to be lifted, which meant the parents didn't have hands for cases, old people were tripping or slipping on the tracks and children were losing their parents.
We finally reached an impossibly steep flight of steps and somehow made our way up to a field. We crossed the field, found the buses and couldn't get on them because they were already full. By the time I had got on a bus I knew that I had missed my flight. I phoned my son in Sofia to give him the bad news.
It didn't get any better for several hours when my son phoned to say he had paid to get me on another flight. I know transport to an airport can make people late, accidents and many other reasons but I could not have imagined missing a flight when I was already in the airport. I and many others.
The platform for the shuttle was more crowded than usual because apparently there was a 'minor' technical problem. I couldn't get on the first train as I was pushed aside by bigger people with even bigger suitcases. I nearly got on the second train but as my foot stepped on a man trod on it and took my place. There were no airport employees to control the crowd so like Lord of the Flies, the smaller and weaker people were overcome by stronger and younger ones. I wasn't worried about the time, I had plenty of it. When I eventually got on a train, it remained motionless with the doors open while more and more people piled in. I was bent over, unable to stand up, it was hot and extremely uncomfortable. The train moved and went for about a minute before it stopped between stations. I looked at my watch. The minutes ticked by and I started calculating like John Cleese in the film Clockwise. If the train starts in the next five minutes and it takes another 10 minutes I shall be ok.
After 15 minutes it started to move only to stop again. The announcement still said a minor problem. After 30 minutes the announcement said that the system was shutting down and we should go to the terminal and catch a bus. Are they kidding? We were packed like sardines on a train between stations with the doors closed. Someone called the emergency communication. I heard him begging for them to open the doors, people were nearly passing out with heat and lack of air. They must have heard the babies screaming. For safety reasons, the voice said they could not open the doors and just to add insult to injury played the tape saying we could get on a bus. I looked at my watch. If they could get us to the terminal in the next ten minutes I still had a chance.
That ten minutes passed and then a man in a high viz jacket walked down the track. He opened the doors of one carriage and the people started getting out and walking along the track. By the time all the carriages were open there were hundreds of people on the railway lines. You can't wheel cases so they had to be carried and some were huge. Pushchairs had to be lifted, which meant the parents didn't have hands for cases, old people were tripping or slipping on the tracks and children were losing their parents.
We finally reached an impossibly steep flight of steps and somehow made our way up to a field. We crossed the field, found the buses and couldn't get on them because they were already full. By the time I had got on a bus I knew that I had missed my flight. I phoned my son in Sofia to give him the bad news.
It didn't get any better for several hours when my son phoned to say he had paid to get me on another flight. I know transport to an airport can make people late, accidents and many other reasons but I could not have imagined missing a flight when I was already in the airport. I and many others.
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