Fri 22 July - Good morning[s]...

Well, with the exception of Monday morning's little off-again, on-again incident, it's been a pretty good week for morning travel. The 07:14 is on time again.

Feeling like crud with the cold that's going around, so home on the 16:27. On time, so a good end to the week.

Thu 21 July - Who uses SMS...?

Receive an alert at 06:23 that the 07:29 is cancelled. No problems.

The 07:14 arrives on time and there's no appreciable increase in passengers over a normal day. Which got me wondering how many other people use the SMS alerts? And what do they do when they get them in the morning?

I'd always opt for trying to catch the earlier train, since you could expect the one following your cancelled train to be very full. And this morning there was more than an hour to react, so you'd think it would be worth trying to get out 15 minutes earlier. I guess I have to accept that not everybody hates crowded trains as much as I do.

Talking of crowded trains, the 17:38 leaves more or less on time, why is it so crowded?

Wed 20 July - Inspectors...

On the 07:14, as usual today - and it's on time.

I always come out at the Degraves Street exit. Often there's a gang of about ten or so Connex inspectors loitering just beyond the barriers. Why? If you haven't got a ticket then the only way out is to jump over the barrier. Surely one person is enough to notice and handle that? Why so many? Safety in numbers? Exactly how much are we paying to enforce compliance with this archaic ticketing system? Just scrap it Bracksie!

Home on the 17:38 and it's on time - a good day for Connex!

Tue 19 July - What, no SMSes...?

No SMSes to advise any cancellations this morning - quite unusual. Anyway the 07:14 is a few minutes late.

The 18:12 is about five minutes late - a distinctly orange day today! Amazingly no SMSes again this evening - it's a very rare occurrence to get none in either window as I cover a three hour span for both periods.

Mon 18 July - Which message...?

06:13 "Phil, the 7:14 AM Sandringham train from Ripponlea has been cancelled. Connex apologises for any inconvenience."

06:28 "Phil, the 7:14 AM Sandringham train from Ripponlea will now run. Connex apologises for any inconvenience."

So that's today's burning question, had I seen the second message before racing off to get ready, should I have trusted that second message anyway?

When I get to the station and hit the green button, the 07:14 is stated to be running, but they decline to say when it’s expected, a big clue that it may be delayed. I think making the effort to get the 06:59 was the right decision - it's a couple of minutes late.

Home on the 17:38 - on time but very crowded. Possibly people had to let the 17:27 go, since the 17:17 was cancelled it would've been pretty full.