7 NOVEMBER 1998, Page 28

Bah, BAA

MORE trouble on the line: BAA, the ovine airport operator, bleats that not enough people are using Heathrow Express, its shiny new train that goes whizzing into Paddington. They must have been put off by the relentless waffle pumped into every carriage by BAA's closed-circuit television sets. Mobile telephone chatter would be soothing by comparison. Somewhere between Ealing Broadway and Acton Main Line they bring you the weather forecast for China. Even in a New York taxi, a pas- senger is guaranteed (by order of the Mayor) the right to a journey in silence, and it is too much to come back to London and pay a premium to share a train with a chat show. Bah, BAA.