Mon 8 May - Scraping in...
Just scraping in with a green this morning. The barrier swallows my ticket and holds it for no obvious reason. I'm half expecting a crowd of Connex badge-touting thugs to leap out and ambush me for my anti-Connex stance, but eventually the ticket is regurgitated from the in-slot.
Annoyingly I've used a daily ticket when I could've used a two hour one. I hate giving them money unnecessarily!
Off to Perth again this evening, back Friday. Behave yourselves while I'm gone, especially you Chris!
Annoyingly I've used a daily ticket when I could've used a two hour one. I hate giving them money unnecessarily!
Off to Perth again this evening, back Friday. Behave yourselves while I'm gone, especially you Chris!
posted by Connex Whinger at 7:45 am
13 Comments:
Further to the Metrol communication discussion the other day:
This morning our train is stopped in the loop. After a few minutes, the driver gets on the speaker and apologises to us for the delay (very much appreciated by all) and says that he doesn't know what the delay is and Metrol is engaged and he'll find out more when he can.
Engaged?
Do drivers call a 1800 number to report problems and faults?
Several conversations then broke out among passengers on board asking what that meant and lucky it wasn't an emergency.
Do any Connex/Metlink/Metrol employees read this blog, and if so, can they explain the communication method and procedure between trains and Metrol?
Sam
PS - Driver found out a minute or two later that it was an ill passenger on the train in front and we moved off soon after. Again, it was great to be kept in the loop while being kept in the loop.
I am sure Chris will have his five cents on this.
OK, Drivers have a "radio" - you know similar to a 'walkie-talkie', but every train has one, and it should be connected to Metrol.
These unfortunately use radio waves, and of course within the Loop, it is slightly difficult to gain reception.
Oh, Metrol can't be engaged, unless theres either loads of drivers needing assistance, or temporary fault (ie maintenance)
Perhaps the driver had to ring after attempting to contact them via radio.
But either way, i don't know why the driver said it was engaged.
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TRIVIA
COnnex, is also replacing their "radios" to fix this problem.
Oh and most trams have a phone inside them connected to "FOC" (tram version of Metrol)
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The driver was correct to contact Metrol, but it might not have been utterly necassary. When trains are held at a station for a long time, a driver can either wait a while, or contact Metrol to see if there is underlying problems.
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And Mr anonymous, ill let you have the joke this time. Hopefully this last, is what I intended to base upon the opposing comment.
And Mr anonymous, ill let you have the joke this time.
How kind of you!
The Police, Amulance and Fire Brigade have all had digital radio installed - it works and is better than any other system, like their old analogue radio communications. Perhaps Connex needs to look at this!
Surely customer service must be their priority!!
Well for all our whinging, it appears that London has the same problem with the Tube:
http://www.backingblair.co.uk/london_underground/
The language can be a little colourful!!
So the drivers ability to communicate with Metrol is disrupted in the loop - when they have a train full of passengers underground in a tunnel!?
You've got to be joking. Surely that is the one place they would have the best technology to make sure a driver can contact the appropriate people in an emergency?
Sam
Just spotted this
http://finance.news.com.au/story/0,10166,19089480-31037,00.html
Sam, the CAN communicate, but there may in any case be the very rare occasionaly problem...
DO you expect your computer to work precisely 100% of the time?
And anyway, within the tunnel are phone boxes (Railway phone-boxes)
"Trains are running late, commuters know that. They want better standards, they want better services" (news.com.au)
Well, durgh!
http://www.backingblair.co.uk/london_underground/
ill have to agree, very funny... (even though ive known this song for a year or so)
All equipment has a failure rate, sure, but when the lives and wellbeing of hundreds of people are in your hands then you'd want your primary means of communication to have a very low failure rate, and even then you'd want some sort of backup system in place.
In other words, whatever system the drivers use in the loop - it had better have 100% coverage under normal circumstances, unlike for example mobile phones.
sam
Thats why Connex are replacing the radios with newer Motorola ones. (I don't know specifically)
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