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@DavidPenington@aus.social

Post #2293107

2026-04-16 02:07 UTC

@cliffordheath@mastodon.social My mother in law's last Sydney to Melbourne train, in February, was 3 1/2 hours late, most of the delay in Victoria. We do need to improve this. The website didn't give meaningful information once it was later than the train's scheduled arrival time, which was difficult because she has Altzheomers. The website issue was likely caused by the challenge of matching equipment position pings with scheduled services when they are badly off schedule. I've worked with similar systems & it's tricky. It's made worse by long delays between stations because the system only gets timing information when it reaches a station, so a 3 hour delay between stations doesn't update the ETA until it finally gets to a station! Eg it's 6pm. The train hasn't reached Wangaratta, but it's still "on time" for a 6.30pm Melbourne arrival (no, it's 2 1/2 hours from Wangaratta to Melbourne)

Replies (1)

  • @DavidPenington@aus.social 2 1/2 hours late in the end. 500 tired pax with disrupted travel plans, some in difficulty because the extra duration meant their phones were dead and they couldn't notify folk meeting them (not even one charge point on the entire train!). This would have been an advanced service sixty years ago, but doesn't cut it in 2026

    Open ##2293108