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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National

A train journey that made a lasting impression

A ticket inspector and passenger on a train
A ticket inspector and passenger on a train. ‘Ozzy Osbourne came on the train intercom to make the announcements.’ Photograph: UK Stock Images Ltd/Alamy

Jimmy Cricket taking over the aeroplane’s intercom (Letters, 5 August) reminded me of a memorable train journey. In 2008 I travelled from Runcorn train station to a conference in London.

As we approached the first stop, Birmingham, to my and the other passengers’ surprise, Ozzy Osbourne came on the train intercom to make the announcements. Later in the journey, the former US president George W Bush gave the buffet car details, with Boris Johnson, then mayor of London, doing the honours for the platform details coming into Euston.

As the train pulled in, the real voice of Jon Culshaw of the BBC Radio 4 show Dead Ringers, who apparently travelled the route regularly, announced that the train guard had been passing the microphone to him each time to brighten our journey.
Andrew Keeley
Warrington, Cheshire

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