Improving X (Twitter) service disruption tweets

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

16th February 2020

The communication failure is not getting any better ...

Greetings,

TransLink tweeted last evening at 7.01pm to the effect that the 7.05pm Rosewood to Ipswich was cancelled.  They went on to state that the next service would be the 9.05pm Rosewood to Ipswich service They clearly didn't look at a timetable, there is a service that leaves Rosewood at 8.05pm.  Why is TransLink allowed to continue to tweet nonsense?  Come on Minister Bailey, time to step up to the plate.



Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track https://backontrack.org

Sent to all outlets:

The communication failure continues ...

14th February 2020

Good Morning,

Yet another example of the feeble service disruption reporting.

https://twitter.com/TransLinkSEQ/status/1227609107877724160

This tweet was sent at 1.03am Feb 13 2020.

The first time should read 12.12am, but importantly the hashtag #Beenleigh is wrong.  It should be #TLBeenleigh.  Because of the hash tag error the tweet was not auto-retweeted by Queensland Rail twitter.  The error was reported to both TransLink and Queensland Rail with no response.  Do they care?

Despite raising our concerns with the mess that is TransLink twitter, nothing happens.  In fact it seems to be getting worse.   Little wonder that the public transport network is breaking down when even the simple things are unable to be sorted.

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track https://backontrack.org

Sent to all outlets:

9th February 2020

It is time TransLink acted to improve service disruption communications

Good Morning,

Frankly, we have had enough of the poor service disruption reporting on the SEQ TransLink network.  Passengers understand that unplanned disruptions will occur from time to time, but simply abandoning passengers languishing ' in the dark ' at bus stops and stations throughout SEQ is not acceptable.

The Sunshine Coast Daily recently highlighted yet another communication failure.

7 Feb 2020: Commuter fury as train delays leave them stranded
https://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/commuter-fury-as-train-delays-leave-them-stranded/3938526/

These days there are a variety of communication tools that can used to reliably inform passengers of disruptions to normal services.  TransLink twitter needs an urgent review and improvement.  We have suggested previously how this could be done.

1 Sep 2019: How TransLink could streamline its Twitter service disruptions
https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=13649.msg226627#msg226627

These constructive suggestions for improvement appear to be ignored.  We are tired of being ignored.

This is typical of TransLink twitter:

https://twitter.com/TransLinkSEQ/status/1224588378206851072

" The 4.33pm Central to Ferny Grove train is running express from Mitchelton to Ferny Grove station due to a control decision. The next Rosewood to Central train is due to depart Oxford Park Station at 5.04pm. "

I think most residents of SEQ would realise this tweet is utter babble.  It is also a major embarrassment for our rail operator.

There are many examples of more bungles here:

Improving Twitter service disruption tweets ( a forum discussion thread at RAIL Back On Track ).
https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=13649.0

In Sydney and Melbourne the rail operator does their own direct tweeting.  This results in much more timely, accurate information being made available to passengers.  Clearly TransLink cannot cope under the present arrangements, time that Queensland Rail was tasked with their own direct service disruption reporting as for Melbourne and Sydney.

The TransLink twitter feed has service disruptions from Cairns to Toowoomba.  It is a confusing mess of miscommunication. It needs a major overhaul as to its structure.  We have shown how that could be achieved, and at no consultant cost.

We expect our elected political representatives and the transport authorities to act to improve.  Simply ignoring the facts is unacceptable.

Best wishes,

Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track https://backontrack.org

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1228834835818409984

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/TrainsInfo/status/1229120989721546752

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ScotRail/status/1229277602654904320

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ScotRail/status/1229483401264058368

[ozbob]

 

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1229507162289795072

[Cleveland Line]

The '#TLDoombenline' too...

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1229507162289795072

[ozbob]

The '#TLDoombenline' too...

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1229507162289795072

The 6.02am service ex Varsity Lakes goes through to Doomben.  Hence the Doomben line hash tag.  But should be a #TLGoldCoastline hash tag as well.

They are really incompetent.  It is not just the odd error, it is constant.

[Cleveland Line]

Delays on Cleveland Line this morning. Nothing on TL or QR Twitter feeds or TL app but auto announcement at station advised Doomben service was 19 minutes late. Obviously following services will also be delayed. 

Road users get decent traffic updates from a direct and personal service....do you think this traffic incident might impact rail services too?! 

https://twitter.com/QLDTrafficMetro/status/1229537916856127489

[Cleveland Line]

Wasn't one of the responses to rail fail to improve communication? And Figures in Response Unit monitoring this? ...

The '#TLDoombenline' too...

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1229507162289795072

The 6.02am service ex Varsity Lakes goes through to Doomben.  Hence the Doomben line hash tag.  But should be a #TLGoldCoastline hash tag as well.

They are really incompetent.  It is not just the odd error, it is constant.

[ozbob]

It is a circus Cleveland Line !!

====

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1229540723646590978

[Cleveland Line]

They have to be doing this on purpose, right?! Just to get you worked up! You can't actually be this bad without trying...

It is a circus Cleveland Line !!

====

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1229540723646590978

[ozbob]

I wish they were   .  They are going to pieces as scrutiny is applied ..

Here you go ..

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1229547103518519297

[Gazza]

But a train is not a bus? 

Tell that to Adrian Schrinner.

[Cleveland Line]

  ....

I wish they were   .  They are going to pieces as scrutiny is applied ..

Here you go ..

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1229547103518519297

[Cleveland Line]

Its a 'metro vehicle'!

But a train is not a bus? 

Tell that to Adrian Schrinner.

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

19th February 2020

Would you pay for this?

Good Morning,

How much money is it costing us citizens of Queensland for this sub-standard reporting of service disruptions by TransLink on twitter?

More bumbles yesterday ... a couple of examples (there were more .. ).

https://twitter.com/TransLin/SEQ/status/1229495243168460803

What happened to the 6.10am and 6.25am services from Varsity Lakes to Central?  Also no Gold Coast line hashtag.

https://twitter.com/TransLinkSEQ/status/1229539235616694272

It is Lindum ...

Queensland Rail should be doing their own direct tweeting of service disruptions.  These constant errors are confusing for passengers and very embarrassing for Queensland Rail.

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track https://backontrack.org

Attached: https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=13649.msg233359#msg233359

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1229844408884875264

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/QueenslandRail/status/1229895095496908801

2/2 We apologise that these services were not referenced in the disruption Tweet as alternative options and have passed this feedback on.

— Queensland Rail (@QueenslandRail) February 18, 2020

[ozbob]

Facebook ...

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

20th February 2020

Sorting out TransLink Twitter

Good Morning,

This is the complexity of how TransLink operates its Twitter account presently. It is little wonder it is error prone with constant hashtag errors. It is a big jumble.



Our suggestion is to set up independent twitter accounts based on the bus regions and for ferry. Light rail included in the Gold Coast. No longer dependent on hashtags. This would improve the utility of TransLink twitter considerably, reduce complexity and we think make it easier for TransLink to be timely and accurate with the service disruption tweets. It would also make it a lot better for passengers as they could simply follow the accounts of relevance and interest to them. Do passengers in Cairns really want to know what is happening in Ipswich? And so on ... Queensland Rail do their own direct tweeting.



Not hard is it?  Commercial tweet platforms such as Hootsuite etc. are designed to handle multiple accounts with ease.

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track https://backontrack.org

Attached: https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=13649.msg233489#msg233489

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1230204041721892864

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1230284729942827008

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1234667920870952963

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1236662706565836800

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/QueenslandRail/status/1237128578376126464

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/QueenslandRail/status/1237602997166673920

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1237624423558995968

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1241124653571039232

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1264988187434184704

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1268199826522468352

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1283110863067443201

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ScotRail/status/1286377289756770304

[ozbob]

For some time now I have been thinking how I could maintain a historical record of the reported rail service disruptions for each individual line. 
The web link information disappears after 30 minutes or so.

Attempts to get TransLink to change their twitter notifications to line by line accounts (as in Sydney), which would be of much benefit to all are too hard and are ignored.

So I have set up a system that does line by line recording of the service disruptions, automatically.  Went fully live yesterday (25th Jan 2021) for Citytrain.

It is on my SMF 2.1 test forum.  So far so good ...  uses the hash tags, RSS, and automated via cron jobs. 
It is not immediate as it takes a little time (30 minutes or so) for cron jobs to execute etc. 
But will be interesting to be able to separate out the lines.

Citytrain > https://railbotforum.org/forum/index.php?board=14.0   

Gold Coast light rail > https://railbotforum.org/forum/index.php?board=15.0 added 26th January 2021

[ozbob]

Record of reported Ferry service disruptions from 9th December 2020

> https://railbotforum.org/forum/index.php?topic=202.0

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/TrainsInfo/status/1362990380178935808

[ozbob]

Record of reported bus service disruptions from 20th February 2021

> https://railbotforum.org/forum/index.php?topic=203.0

[ozbob]

Record of reported bus service disruptions from 20th February 2021

> https://railbotforum.org/forum/index.php?topic=203.0

It is very interesting that for the last few weeks the bus service disruptions are now listing actual causes for the delays. 
Seems there has been a policy change.

[ozbob]

I have now broken up the reported bus service disruptions into the groups (hash tags) that TransLink uses.

This is on auto-pilot.

> https://railbotforum.org/forum/index.php?board=17.0

[ozbob]

Not hard is it? 

https://twitter.com/TrainsInfo/status/1367187611324923905

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1369660411604209665