So - with extra notice yesterday, how have we done?
Melksham Rail User Group - Melksham Specific notices (but we have many wider followers)
Facebook - 132 people reached, 10 engagements
Twitter - 59 people reached, 2 engagements
and this morning
our live display at http: // melksh.am/trains is showing:
or if you read on a wider screen
GWR▸ Journey Check also confirming that the train is replaced by a bus:
But the displays at the station just tell you the train is cancelled:
TransWilts also posted on Facebook and Tweeted
and
(I do not have access to stats of numbers of impressions and visits for these pages)
And their
Live app at https: // transwilts.org/app/#/home is showing:
Links to all the various live feeds via
http://new.passenger.chat/better/map.html?stn=MKM» (and if you replace MKM by another station code, or click on the map that comes up when you visit that page, you can find out about any other station.
Taking the opportunity to "audit" the data. I know our
MRUG» feeds (there are two of us who can update those pages / data, AND we take autometed feeds) reached key people - "likes", etc, including regular passengers. And the number of engagements in the way I chose to write the pages is not relevant - all the information needed was presented on the landing page, so people can read and understand without the need to click through.
Slightly disappointed that the official WebTIS and TransWilts App just say "cancelled" with no indication there's a bus. The WebTIS particularly concerbig as that's the same source as the displays at the station at Melksham, so anyone who turns up there may not realise there's a bus coming. Pressing the button on the Help point will (educated guess) reach someone who knows about the bus, as National Rail advise tends to follow JourneyCheck where it's available.
To some extent, that above is a "one off" check / look. But we at MRUG need to learn from it to help ensure that automated feeds telling people of changes are as thorough as possible
including alternative travel plans and that we can minimise local intervention. At the same time, flag up where it's not automated on social media, helping to ensure we tell as positive story as possible - "you are being looked after" and "all these other services are running as normal" - we reach enough people who are not happening to use the particular trains in question for it to be a publicity opportunity.
P.S. - it's not only about getting the data out there, but about ensuring it has a date and location on it ("tomorrow" must be identified in case it's read on archive and confuses for a later date) and gets removed from the live feed manual text boxes if we have to use them once the services are past.
