I hardly ever catch trains (or any public transport), I have a car. Apart from that, trains tend to rarely stick to timetables, stop and stand inside a tunnel for 10+ minutes, get overfilled and the prices for them seem to grow faster then the petrol prices.

I remember once (of many) catching a train to Quakers Hill, this was about 8 years ago. There was a drunk in my carriage and all he wanted was to quietly puke somewhere. We still had the old trains then, the ones where you could actually open a window and get some fresh air. This guy didn’t care much about fresh air, he opened the window a little and started to slowly vomit through it. The people around him began to move into the next carriage, maybe they were worried that he’ll finish throwing up and get rowdy. I sat and watched. The train suddenly hits the breaks. The drunk, obviously not holding on to anything, falls to the floor and in the process pukes all over the window, the wall and himself. The man looked like a local drunk, so without a sign of embarrassment, he wipes his mouth with the shirt sleeve, grabs his no-less drunk wife by the hand and gets out at the next station.

Before the smell took over, I also decided to go into a different carriage.

So, I’ve noticed that now the trains got themselves these new handles. Well, they are new to me, but maybe they have been there for over a year. I like them. They look strong, stronger then the old ones that hung off a rope. The train came on time, got to my destination pretty quick, cost me $3.40 and took about 5-6 minutes.

Later today I’m catching a bus. Can’t wait to see what’s new there.