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Brisbane trains: Translink’s social media response to commuter chaos

UPDATE: Queensland Rail has denied responsiblity for a bizarre tweet during the commuter chaos that caused delays and cancellations of Brisbane trains.

Shae McDonald (AAP)
less than 2 min read
December 8, 2016 - 4:41PM
Travel chaos for Southeast commuters

QUEENSLAND Rail has denied responsibility for an emoji that was posted on its Twitter feed today in the midst of heavy delays across the network.

A spokeswoman said the laughing emoji “did not originate from within the Queensland Rail social media team and has since been deleted”.

“All passwords have been changed and we are investigating how it occurred,” she said.

“We are extremely apologetic for the delays this morning and assure our customers that the tweet does not represent our views.”

Brisbane trains: Delays, cancellations as chaos hits train lines

Queensland Rail’s smiling face with tears emoji has sparked more anger on Twitter.
Queensland Rail’s smiling face with tears emoji has sparked more anger on Twitter.

A later tweet from Queensland Rail has attempted to clarify the emoji.

Translink struggled to keep commuters up-to-date with its own transport chaos this morning.

A spokesperson for Translink said they responded as quickly as possible but were limited by the information provided by Queensland Rail.

“QR was dealing with an abnormal number of ongoing issues this morning and responded as swiftly as possible at the time,” the spokesperson said.

Spokespeople provided rolling updates on social media, but for many that information came way too late.

Some commuters were only notified about cancellations and delays after they contacted Translink through its social media channels.

Courier-Mail reader Christine said: “None of these events explains why the 5:34am from Wynnum North sailed straight through while we were all standing on the platform waiting for said train to stop. No communication, no apologies..... Oh yeah, I forgot that is what I have come to expect from Qld Rail. Very rarely hear any communication or apologies on the Cleveland line.”

Jay Robinson tweeted for the second time this week his 7.16am train from Toombul to Central had been cancelled.

Translink responded saying “unfortunately there was a track fault this morning which has affected many services, apologies for any inconvenience”.

Translink has been contacted for comment.

Translink has also felt the fury of commuters due to the train chaos.

Queensland Rail driver training

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Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/brisbane-trains-translinks-social-media-response-to-commuter-chaos/news-story/105dcc430856d730d079645b084e1b49