I am Birmingham bound. Avanti may boast three trains an hour, but for the Cat lover there can be no alternative to the silver train out of Marylebone.
So it is an early morning commuter train from Kent into London for me. The Thameslink investment does not pall with familiarity: here is the Bermondsey diveunder, and an island platform at the rebuilt London Bridge for us up Kents – where formerly we had but one platform face. It is the new viaduct to the west of the station I find the real thrill, though: I love peering down on busy Borough High Street from the new structure, riding high over the market and then seeing the Blackfriars line peeling off.
Which way next? One option would be to jump off at Waterloo East, avoid the crowds with the eastern exit off the platforms down to Southwark station on the Jubilee Line, get out at Baker Street and walk past Dorset Square to Marylebone. Platform edge doors, automatic operation, a train every two minutes: the modern railway at its best. But just a little… dull.
