Rail delays and cancellations are so common that passengers are inured to disruption - Sarah Todd

There was no ‘We plough the fields and scatter’ for this correspondent.

The supposedly quick direct train was halted in its tracks by some signalling problem further down the line.

The lack of urgency in the conductor’s announcements about ‘trying to contact engineers’ was more than enough to make a vicar swear. It certainly was for this no-show member of the congregation.

As somebody who hasn’t travelled on a train for at least two years it was sad to note how it was like water off a duck’s back for everybody else onboard.

Poor people must just be used to it. It really shone a light on all the transport talk that has been in the news since HS2 was derailed as far as the north is concerned.

For this passenger it seemed beyond comprehension that there isn’t always a team of engineers within easy reach of any possible problem.

Nobody, as we were stuck in the sidings, came down the train to offer refreshment. Nowadays, it seems, there is a barcode to scan on a mobile phone and orders are to be made digitally.

No cheery chat with the steward pushing the trolley; no opportunity for passengers (especially the elderly or those with disabilities or young children) to ask a question or flag any needs up.

Such is the ubiquity of technology.

The conductor didn’t dare show his face, so there was no human contact for the duration of the whole disappointing journey.

The day probably just wasn’t meant to be. Something else had gone wrong beforehand. Maybe it should have been taken as an omen.

A litter of pups has had this correspondent tied as far as any shopping trips have gone.

So while it’s embarrassing to admit for somebody as against cutting the High Street out of shopping as it’s possible to be, a new pair of shoes was ordered online.

They were from a country-themed brand and the autumnal brown suede numbers looked likely to be just the ticket for walking down the aisle at the harvest festival.

They were ordered in plenty of time, at least six weeks beforehand, but then alarm bells started to ring when after a week or so they never arrived.

Emails were sent and telephone messages left and then suspicions were proved correct when a brief statement declared the company had gone into liquidation.

While there was nothing to be done about the shoes; they assured me it would be their pleasure to do business again as they would be relaunching under another trading name.

Now how on earth are companies still, in 2023, allowed to get away with doing this? We must all know people who have been stung by this happening.

Nobody seems to hang their heads in shame when it comes to going bust anymore.

Time and again companies go west (as my late grandmother used to call it) and they don’t seem to miss a beat. There should be a law against it.

The firm advised getting in touch with the bank and making some sort of claim back from them for the price of the shoes. Well, this proved easier said than done.

They wouldn’t do it in branch or over the telephone; it all had to be logged online.

In the end, it was all just put down to experience. Life is too short to be crouched over a computer trying time after time to fill in some stupid form that keeps bouncing back.

With all the horrors going on in the world at the moment, all the above is - of course - of zero importance.

It’s probably been heightened by the aforementioned horrors but something has happened recently, like a candle being snuffed out, that has made the once fiercely followed routine of the ten o’clock evening news hard to bear.

Nobody seems to just read the news anymore. There is Tom Bradby on one side making sarcastic sideswipes at every opportunity and then, over on BBC One, they seem as straightforward as taking a train from north to south.