Post script to the above: The train was over 20 minutes late at Fareham, which undid much of the benefit of going to collect them (though I can't get either of them to see the logic of this

)
I won't bore everyone with the all details because similar things happen all the time, but there were massive delays to trains to and from Brighton yesterday caused by shortage of drivers, carriages and probably the wrong sort of passengers

. This on a weekend when there was (a) a home match at Brighton and Hove Albion, (b) thousands of visitors had descended on the town for Pride weekend and (c) the weather was nice - all of these were known in advance (even the weather) and apparently ignored. It took half an hour of queuing, and two missed services, for them to get on a train that was heading even vaguely in the right direction. I sometimes think that the people "running" rail services live on another planet. We pay millions in taxpayer subsidies,and most of this money, it appears, is shovelled into the pockets of senior employees and the owners of the Train Companies, in return for passengers being treated like animals. BR was pretty grim in its heyday, but I often find myself wishing for its return.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!