What a joke
The whole point of a metro service is frequent reliable services... so the fact you have an app specifically to tell when the service is infrequent and unreliable is already a bad sign.
But that’s just the Metro Trains service... this app on the other hand is unbelievably bad. Perhaps the worst I’ve ever used.
Choosing your trips is an awful experience with little clarity about how I should choose the stations... do I need to add both directions for a trip? Who knows, your app certainly doesn’t tell me!
The unlabelled status indicators on the line status page are confusing, inaccessible, and just plain unusable.
But the real issue with this app is that at the very moment you NEED to know when the next services are arriving (I.e. when something’s wrong with the line) it simply wont show you. Dead serious — if the line is anything but perfect service it won’t show you upcoming trains. It’s actually laughable.
So in lieu of a decent train service (because let’s be honest, we’ll never get that from the pinnacle of ineptitude that is Metro Trains) could you PLEASE at least provide an app that is of some damned use!
But that’s just the Metro Trains service... this app on the other hand is unbelievably bad. Perhaps the worst I’ve ever used.
Choosing your trips is an awful experience with little clarity about how I should choose the stations... do I need to add both directions for a trip? Who knows, your app certainly doesn’t tell me!
The unlabelled status indicators on the line status page are confusing, inaccessible, and just plain unusable.
But the real issue with this app is that at the very moment you NEED to know when the next services are arriving (I.e. when something’s wrong with the line) it simply wont show you. Dead serious — if the line is anything but perfect service it won’t show you upcoming trains. It’s actually laughable.
So in lieu of a decent train service (because let’s be honest, we’ll never get that from the pinnacle of ineptitude that is Metro Trains) could you PLEASE at least provide an app that is of some damned use!
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Could be a great app if it had live updates about specific pre-selected services
Just down loaded the app thinking I could get notifications about the trains I generally catch. Unfortunately it looks like the app only goes to train line and station level and you can only select brackets of time in the AM. I have evening commitments, as most people do, so being able to receive alerts about PM services would be useful too. I have the PTV app as well which shows live info about services. Why can’t there be something that combines the aim of both apps so I can set up alerts for my favourite services? For example, it would be useful to receive an alert when the 8:24 from Heathmont is cancelled so I don’t have to hang around for 30mins waiting for the next service. I could instead rush for the 8:15 or laze around the house for another 20mins doing laundry or tormenting my children. I know these seem like insignificant first world problems but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have first world expectations. This sort of app would really help a busy girl out.
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Deceptive representation
This app is deceptive and doesn’t give “live updates” of the actual services as claimed. If a train is stopped outside Richmond/FlindersSt/SpencerSt/NorthMelb, and delayed for 5 or 10 minutes, don’t expect it to tell you that the train is late. If they are running late and terminate a train service before it’s stated destination and initiate a new city-bound train service from that intermediate station, don’t expect to read about it on this app.
It makes you wonder about how they’re meeting their “targets” and how accurate that data is. But don’t expect to get any real information about that because it is supposedly “commercial in confidence”. A public transport service with zero accountability for the foreign operators.
It makes you wonder about how they’re meeting their “targets” and how accurate that data is. But don’t expect to get any real information about that because it is supposedly “commercial in confidence”. A public transport service with zero accountability for the foreign operators.
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Planned works?
Aside from the major flaw of not being up to date (could take a lesson from TramTRACKER), why can’t you see all the planned works from your line, even though it tells you there are numerous ones planned? I want to look at them all, but it doesn’t seem to give me an option to check. It’s okay as a baseline app, but it needs some serious work.
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Doesn't actually know when trains will arrive
This app is rubbish, it has no idea. It's not actually wired into the system like you'd expect it to be, like tram tracker for example, which is brilliant. At a guess it just holds the schedules and unless some operator somewhere MANUALLY adds a notification or a delay, we don't get any updates, add to that the fact that anything 5 minutes or under isn't considered a delay (IT IS, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU RELY ON CONNECTING TRAINS). On the upfield line today at Flemington Bridge station for example it was reporting that the line wasn't experiencing any delays and the 9:31 would arrive on time, that time passed and it moved onto reporting that the next train wasn't experiencing any delays without the 9:31 actually having arriving, minutes passed, there was an inaudible announcement over the speaker system and people were getting worried the train may have been cancelled as NO ONE understood what had been said. This is utterly useless. This app has the potential to be really great as you guys have this information, as at certain stations we get to the minute delays on those overhead boards. WHY DON'T YOU INCORPORATE THIS DATA INTO THE APP. I get daily notifications from this app that are more often than not, completely wrong which means you can't rely on them which makes the whole thing pointless
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Could be useful, but isn’t.
I’ve had this app since Metro cancelled the sms notification service. I was looking for an “app feedback” contact but couldn’t find one so see my suggestions below.
I have two points:
Why is the twitter feed updated more regularly than the line status within the app? This makes the app redundant most of the time, usually when there are major delays. Hardly a week goes by without some catastrophic failure/delay on the Craigieburn line (god forbid there is any form of precipitation - instant delays). Melbourne needs some serious investment in signalling systems but I guess that’s another issue. Make the twitter feed accessible within the app if you won’t update the app info as regularly.
My station (Roxburgh Park) does not show the next 4 departures. In fact, it specifically says “no departures”. While this is true as least once a week (see point one), this appears to be a bug and needs to be fixed. This essentially removes any further usefulness about the app.
I have two points:
Why is the twitter feed updated more regularly than the line status within the app? This makes the app redundant most of the time, usually when there are major delays. Hardly a week goes by without some catastrophic failure/delay on the Craigieburn line (god forbid there is any form of precipitation - instant delays). Melbourne needs some serious investment in signalling systems but I guess that’s another issue. Make the twitter feed accessible within the app if you won’t update the app info as regularly.
My station (Roxburgh Park) does not show the next 4 departures. In fact, it specifically says “no departures”. While this is true as least once a week (see point one), this appears to be a bug and needs to be fixed. This essentially removes any further usefulness about the app.
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Hmmmm... well...
The app is okay, I suppose. It doesn't have a function to only be alerted when there is bad news. And once there is bad news, there is no way to delete the bad news notification on the app interface and go back to the timetable. But the main problem IS the timetable... which isn't the app's fault, per se... But the train times are largely a fantasy... more a wish list on PTV's part.
Real time and location reporting of train movements is years overdue.
Real time and location reporting of train movements is years overdue.
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Know how to use it
Several people giving a 1 star review for this app aren't even using it properly. Once you select your route(s), you get all the notifications on delays/cancelations for that specific train line. If you don't select any routes, then you don't get any notifications except general ones. It's pretty simple. I get plenty of notifications for my route, probably too many which made me turn the sound off in notification settings. But still very handy without the sound.
Great app, keeps me up to date on my line. Thanks
Great app, keeps me up to date on my line. Thanks
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Waste of time
Worst app ever - absolutely no point having a notification app when the notifications don't accurately reflect what's actually happening with the trains. For example, this morning the app tells me the 6.55 train is running on time due in 6 mins. The departure board at the station however says the 6.55 is due in 17 mins (i.e. 11 mins late). Not sure why Metro bothered with the app at all? I would have given this no stars but it forces you to choose at least one, hence the one star rating
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If only it notified when there were problems!
This app is called Notify, which implies we get some sort of notification when there are delays or cancellations. Oh how presumptuous of me!
I'm signed up for weekday peak and all notifications are enabled in Settings, so it's not dumb user at work. Occasionally I get told at 7am that trains are running on time, that's nice. I don't seem to get any message if there are any delays in the morning - I make the incorrect assumption that no news is good news only to get to my station and find out about cancellations from the staff and the overflowing train carriages.
I'm yet to receive ANY afternoon peak notifications (aside from the occasional midday 'the lift is broken') and regularly find myself on a platform hearing about train cancellations, again.
If only the app did what it said it would.
I'm signed up for weekday peak and all notifications are enabled in Settings, so it's not dumb user at work. Occasionally I get told at 7am that trains are running on time, that's nice. I don't seem to get any message if there are any delays in the morning - I make the incorrect assumption that no news is good news only to get to my station and find out about cancellations from the staff and the overflowing train carriages.
I'm yet to receive ANY afternoon peak notifications (aside from the occasional midday 'the lift is broken') and regularly find myself on a platform hearing about train cancellations, again.
If only the app did what it said it would.
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