Reported service disruptions rail - no longer in use

[p858snake]

no one probably thought "oh hey lets ring translink and tell them to put out a bulletin".

Keppera station is unmanned after about 10ish (on a weekday, would assume the same on a weekend), Which means there would of only been the driver around who alerted EMS and QR operations (who would of been busy with other things, such as getting help and shuffling things around like cancelling trains). The ferny grove end is manned so there would of been announcements there once they were alerted.

Apart from the CBD stations the FG only have LED desto/PIDS which from my understanding compared to the LCD systems they [the led ones] aren't all magically hooked up and don't get the info in real time. Infact I think mitchy is the first station on the line with the customer PIDS anyway.

[somebody]

Is that right?  PIDs don't know about cancellations.  How annoying.  Can't they remotely announce cancellations either?

[ozbob]

http://translink.com.au/travel-information/service-updates/bulletin/1305009000

Train delays at Bethania station

Inbound Gold Coast, Airport and Beenleigh services are currently delayed up to 15 minutes due to a signalling fault at Bethania Station.

[Fares_Fair]

.. ahh, reminiscing on the good old days.

Did flags ever have technical problems ?   

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[Golliwog]

.. ahh, reminiscing on the good old days.

Did flags ever have technical problems ?   

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

Perhaps not, but in the old days it was also very much the signallers feel that the last train had gone through long enough ago that the next one could proceed.

[ozbob]

erail 6.48am

11 May 2011

20 mins delay for services on Caboolture Line, Nambour Line between Petrie and Caboolture due to signalling fault. Service to resume by 7:30 AM.

[ozbob]

erail 8.15am

11 May 2011

Disruptions on Caboolture Line, Nambour Line between Caboolture and Northgate due to signalling fault. Expect 30 mins delay. Service to resume by 10:00 AM.

Alt. transport operating between Narangba and Northgate.

[ozbob]

http://translink.com.au/travel-information/service-updates/bulletin/1305060169

Caboolture/Sunshine Coast Line delays

Caboolture and Sunshine Coast Line services will be delayed up to 1 hour due to returning signal and points faults at Petrie.

Buses are arranged as an alternative for passengers from Petrie into Northgate.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Not a good day for Caboolture line communters now with a boomgate incident at Bilsen Road cancelling trains on the line.

[ozbob]

erail 7.34am

12 May 2011

15 mins delay for services on Caboolture Line due to signalling fault. Service to resume by 8:30 AM.

==========

http://translink.com.au/travel-information/service-updates/bulletin/1305149820

Caboolture Line delays

Inbound and outbound Caboolture Line services passing through Bray Park may be delayed up to 15 minutes due to a signal fault at Bray Park.

==========

[Fares_Fair]

Another day, another delay ! stuck on the train at Petrie. I would suggest they start to pre-record apologies. Regards, Fares_Fair.

[ozbob]

erail 7.59am

12 May 2011

30 mins delay for services on Caboolture Line due to signalling fault. Service to resume by 9:00 AM.


================

erail 8.01am

12 May 2011

30 mins delay for services on Shorncliffe Line due to crossing issue. Service to resume by 9:00 AM.

[Derwan]

These faults are getting beyond a joke.

Delays now for the Shorncliffe line due to a "crossing issue".  (That one might've been caused by an idiot hitting boom gates.)

Edit: Shorncliffe line is back to normal already.

[Fares_Fair]

Please remind me why this is called 'world class' ?
If it is, then the world is in trouble!

Now followed by police incident at Northgate. 25min's late.. on schedule for 30min. late ETA.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

Edit:
This is the second day of 1/2 hour delays.
Interestingly enough, both were combinations of electrical faults with signals at Petrie and Bray Park respectively, and both were followed by police incidents at level crossings, Geebung and Northgate respectively.

[ozbob]

erail 8.35am

12 May 2011

40 mins delay for services on Ipswich/Rosewood Line due to crossing issue. Service to resume by 10:00 AM.

[#Metro]

I'm starting to get really concerned about all these faults popping up like mushrooms. What's going on?

[ozbob]

Twitter

TransLinkSEQ

Beenleigh + Gold Coast trains suspended btw Beenleigh + Eden's Landing due level crossing incident.15 mins delay. More: http://bit.ly/l9YfEE
2 hours ago

[somebody]

Edit:
This is the second day of 1/2 hour delays.
Interestingly enough, both were combinations of electrical faults with signals at Petrie and Bray Park respectively, and both were followed by police incidents at level crossings, Geebung and Northgate respectively.

"Police incident" what is with the secrecy?  Isn't it just some moron ran into a boom gate on Northgate Rd?

[HappyTrainGuy]

Its nothing secret. Police incident is just a broad term used to warn and not to scare/anger passengers. It covers a simple matter with an annoying drunken passenger all the way to a serious matter where police are involved. Usually for level crossing incidents there are police directing traffic across the crossing or stopping traffic while the boomgates are out/being repaired. Remember Police are always on the scene faster than getting crews there to access/repair the problem so there are communication barriers. The same term is also applied to medical intervention which could be someone just fainting all the way to a heart attack.

[Fares_Fair]

Its nothing secret. Police incident is just a broad term used to warn and not to scare/anger passengers. It covers a simple matter with an annoying drunken passenger all the way to a serious matter where police are involved. Usually for level crossing incidents there are police directing traffic across the crossing or stopping traffic while the boomgates are out/being repaired. Remember Police are always on the scene faster than getting crews there to access/repair the problem so there are communication barriers. The same term is also applied to medical intervention which could be someone just fainting all the way to a heart attack.

I think that they could be more specific with commuters when issues do arise.

Police incidents generally seem to cover everything from boom gate take-outs to, very sadly, suicides.

Commuters prefer to hear the truth 9 times out of 10, and thses incidents do not instill panic or fear into passengers.
e.g., we were told yesterday, that the signal faults were an electrical problem and that electricians were working to resolve them.   to QR for that.
Euphemisms infer a desire to hide the truth (in a prettier way), when openness has the effect of allowing understanding of the situation.

I would prefer the euphemism 'police incident' be reserved for suicides (for the sake of children present in the trains) and special police operations only.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[#Metro]

I think the main thing is to let passengers know that there is a delay and how long for. That's really all passengers need to know.
And then there is privacy too. Some things I would rather not know.

When I hear "staff issues" though... 

Level crossings are going to be a real bugbear on the system. More trains = more boomgates down for longer = more annoyed motorists which will want to beat the gate.

[Fares_Fair]

I think the main thing is to let passengers know that there is a delay and how long for. That's really all passengers need to know.
And then there is privacy too. Some things I would rather not know.

I have to respectfully disagree with you on this one tt.
This is based on the commuter reactions and feed-back I have received on many occasions, an evasion to answer or release information causes (mild) anger.

Out of interest, maybe we could conduct a poll on it tt, what do you think ?

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[Golliwog]

Does anyone know what was happening with Roma St this afternoon? When I was there (a bit before 4) all Ipswich line trains were operating out of platform 6. I didn't notice any delays but they were saying that no trains were leaving from platform 8.

[HappyTrainGuy]

This is based on the commuter reactions and feed-back I have received on many occasions, an evasion to answer or release information causes (mild) anger.

You might as well compare it to rubbernecking. Passengers only need to know that there is a delay. Not information about what has actually happened. There's a lot of incidents that the public do not need to hear/know about. Some could distress and others can create a panic among passengers. Not to mention that information could and does get mixed up when its relayed between passengers, passengers on other services and non passengers thanks to technology (texting, emailing, tweeting, facebook and what not). An example would be a couple weeks ago the courier mail first reported that a woman was attacked and violently stabbed infront of passengers and that ambulances and police were rushing to a station. The actual incident itself was far far far from that and the train itself was only delayed about 15-20 minutes before it continued its journey.

While passengers are interested to know whats going on all the time, they don't need to know everything.

[Fares_Fair]

I have to respectfully disagree with you on this one HTG.
Sounds like a case of telling the commuter what we want them to hear.

I am not saying to tell them every single detail, as in the case you describe, they can all watch the news if they want that kind of detail.
I am saying dispense with misleading euphemisms - and be more accurate.


Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[ozbob]

@HTG Disagree,  constant feedback from pax is that they do want to know what is going on in straightforward direct terms.  And this has been acknowledged by QR and at CRGs as well.

If a train has failed then, mechanical issue with train.  Crew problem, than 'crew issue',  and so forth signal fault, track fault, level crossing issue, ill passenger, extreme weather, police incident.  Not hard, and that is what goes out on twitter and erail in any case ...  in fact some guards even let the pax know that there is 'a short wait due to a red signal' ...  much better to let pax know that there is a short delay and the basic reason (as able). Settles them down straight away.  

I have been on trains that have stopped, no onboard communication, I have had my lap top functioning and have told fellow pax what is going as a result of twitter and erail alerts. There may well be occasions when it is difficult due to operational issues that onboard announcements are not made but in most cases a quick announcement should be in order if delay is more than a few minutes.  Most people are tolerant and understanding if they know in simple terms what is happening.  I can recall a couple of times with ill pax, guard has informed the train there is short delay while and ambulance arrives for an ill pax.  This has sometimes followed a general call on board for 'medical assistance, any doctors or nurses please ..'

[Fares_Fair]

Disagree with me or HTG and TT, Bob ?

I want to dispense with euphemisms and tell the passengers the truth - but not to the point of detailed information of a stabbing
(the extreme example given by a poster above) where children are liable to hear.

Regards,
Fares-Fair.

[ozbob]

I posted over the top of you FF,  I disagree with HTG.

Pax do need to know what is going on in direct, simple terms.  Once they know they are far more patient and tolerant.  Nothing worse than standing on a platform and the clock is just rolling on and no explanation ..

[Fares_Fair]

I posted over the top of you FF,  I disagree with HTG.

Pax do need to know what is going on in direct, simple terms.  Once they know they are far more patient and tolerant.  Nothing worse than standing on a platform and the clock is just rolling on and no explanation ..

That's the message I get too Bob.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[ozbob]

Twitter

TransLinkSEQ

Richlands - Darra services suspended due to access problem. <30min delays. Buses arranged.
2 minutes ago

[ozbob]

http://translink.com.au/travel-information/service-updates/bulletin/1305231950

Richlands - Darra services suspended

Train services are suspended between Richlands Station and Darra Station due to an access problem with the platform.

Delays of up to 30 minutes are expected.  Shuttle buses are being arranged to convey passengers between these two stations.

===========

Anyone know what is going on??

[ozbob]

Have received advice that there is an issue with releasing security access door at Richlands.  Will be rectified asap.

[ozbob]

http://translink.com.au/travel-information/service-updates/bulletin/1305235099

Cleveland, Gold Coast, Beenleigh Line delays

Cleveland, Gold Coast and Beenleigh Line services may be delayed due to 30 minutes due points problem at Roma Street.

Both inbound and outbound services are affected.

[ozbob]

erail 7.26am

13 May 2011

Disruptions on CBD Line between Roma Street and Bowen Hills due to track fault. Expect 20 mins delay. Service to resume by 8:45 AM.

[Derwan]

Pax do need to know what is going on in direct, simple terms.  Once they know they are far more patient and tolerant.  Nothing worse than standing on a platform and the clock is just rolling on and no explanation ..

I think initially passengers just need to know that there is a delay.  If they waited until they had full details before sending eRail alerts, there would be complaints that the alerts weren't timely.

If the delay is ongoing, people start asking why - and want more details.  Perhaps the second delay message could have more details.

Yes, "Police incident" is very broad.  But how much detail do you expect?  How much can they fit into a 160-character text message?

Perhaps the messages that go onto the TransLink website could be updated and expanded as more information comes to hand.

[Fares_Fair]

I'm talking about on board announcements only.
Regards, Fares_Fair.

[ozbob]

Onboard and at stations there needs to be timely announcements!  Erail and twitter is not directed primarily at those commuters actually travelling .. although it has happened that the I have found out what is going on when on board a delayed train, not from onboard announcements and likewise not by announcements at the station, but via twitter/erail ...

[ozbob]

http://translink.com.au/travel-information/service-updates/bulletin/1305235099

Cleveland, Gold Coast, Beenleigh Line delays

Cleveland, Gold Coast/Beenleigh Line services may be delayed due to 15 minutes between Dutton Park and Roma Street after a recent points problem at Roma Street.

Both inbound and outbound services are affected.

[ozbob]

Twitter

612brisbane ABC Radio Brisbane

QR: Train services suspended on the Ferny Grove Line due to boom gates at South Pine Road at Alderley being struck and broken.

2 minutes ago

[Fares_Fair]

Onboard and at stations there needs to be timely announcements!  Erail and twitter is not directed primarily at those commuters actually travelling .. although it has happened that the I have found out what is going on when on board a delayed train, not from onboard announcements and likewise not by announcements at the station, but via twitter/erail ...

yes, Bob 100% agree.
.. and at stations, of course.
All the points you raised are valid and that is what the commuters want IMHO.

Regards,
Fares_fair.