New MetroRail website

[Marc Russell]

It seems MetroRail has it's website up and running again.http://www.metrorail.co.za It has a fresh look to it. However the route map for East/West Wits remains the same.
It says that it also runs a BE bus service from Sandton to Park Stn. Does anyone know of this?

[Luca Lategan]

It's still useless, doesn't the trains in Wits run according a schedule? capemetrorail.co.za is a much better website with fare calculator etc etc

[Marc Russell]

It does appear unfinished, having the schedule for all of CT and one line in Durban only. I do like the scheduling for the con fed cup posting. If you look closely trains were listed to run direct from Joburg to Loftus Versfeld, I would thing that this is a rare undertaking. Premier Classe trains to Rustenberg etc especially for the soccer was also a nice touch. The train really is taking the strain!!

[Jerome West]

Hi, I have no say in the external internet that is under the control of PRASA in Jorrisen St. Yes we do have a number of shuttle services from Park Station to the different business areas which are free for TBE1 and TBE2 users. I have just busy with the maps for the commuters. The routes are Braamfontein / Rosebank / Sandton, CDB, Auckland Park, CBD / Edgardale and CBD/Gold Reef City. As for the Confederations Cup we ran special trains free for match ticket holders from all the outlying areas through either Pretoria or Park Station right to the two stadiums. Although I did not pay for parking at the stations it works out even cheaper than the park and rides. Shosholoza Meyl and Premeir Classe also ran special trains to Bloemfontein and Rustenburg. My son and I used most of these services to a number of games. Talking about strain, the Premeir Classe is off to the Durban July soon.

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

Luca - I think you are being a bit harsh! It is not a bad site and is developing. It does have afew more schedules and all the maps - but to navigate to the latter click the arrow on the bottom left - as opposed to the dots on the map which would be far more logical.

[Luca Lategan]

It's not thought through properly, the animations and stuff is cool and all that, but it does not give me, the potential tourist/traveller the information I want. The link to Customer Care takes you to a IRC site, but the link is broken, what does Metrorail use IRC (Internet Relay Chat (a very old form of MXit)) for anyway?

Firstly the maps, the Wits (and now I see they split Wits into East and West too) and Pretoria regions is new to me, how on earth must I know where a train originates and where it terminates, there's no timetables to compare it with and no colour coding on the maps.

My previous experience with these black and yellow maps is that some stations have closed and others have had name changes. Durban is the same, what's the story between Maydon and Springfield flats, and according to the lines it does seem as if one can go directly from Kelso to Kwa Mashu without changing trains.

Cape town also has a very strange map showing all the different sidings and weird other stuff that doesn't even exist anymore, what's that there at Steenberg?

Then the actual Metro Rail services, a commuter doesn't want to know what the company's origins are, it wants to know where its train will originate! The Western Cape timetables can be found on capemetrorail.co.za, there is a Duplicate Cape Town - Strand timetable, Durban's is incomplete and what about the other regions?

Just look at a website like: Tube | Transport for London it has all the maps in colour coding, all the maintenance, route planner that tells you where to climb over, what it will cost etc etc. I see it now even has a tip for people to remind them to drink lots of water during the heat! Unlike Metrorail's website the Corporate and Business information (that only a few people want to access) is neatly located to the far right.

capemetrorail.co.za actually compares very well with the TFL site.

Another thing, PDF's are good, but when you are browsing the internet you don't want to download a lot of poorly named PDF's to look if THAT page actually has the info you are looking for.

With all the kids that qualifies in webdesign these days in South Africa, surely we can do better than this. What is your job in all this Jerome?

So, Kevin, I'm not being harsh, my personal opinion is that it is pa-the-tic

[Steve Appleton]

I have spent a little time looking at the Metrorail website. As a "corporate" website it is fine. However as a customer website it is very, very poor.
I am aware, from this thread, that the site is under development and that a lot of information is still to be added. But nonetheless the website in its current layout focusses on corporate issues: the first three menu items are just that: "about us", "business information" and "news centre". Only at the third menu item, "Metrorail services" does there exist the meaty content really aimed at the day-to-day customers whose prime questions are "how, where, when and how much?" Not, "what are Metrorail, what tenders are issued, show me the annual report, etc".
I looked up the route maps. Nice system diagrams that are useful for train operators. I now know what lines belong to Metrorail and what belong to TFR, but do I, as a Metrorail customer, really care? What I could not glean from the maps was what stations are served by Metrorail trains and what routes their trains take.
For instance, looking at the Pretoria area map, I happen to know that, although the line east of Mamelodi apparently belongs to TFR and is coloured black instead of yellow, Metrorail trains actually operate over the TFR tracks as far out as Pieaarspoort station. The map doesn't tell me that. The map then gives the impression that stations out as far as Bronkhorstspruit and beyond are also served. Although the stations do exist, they are not served by Metrorail, nor anyone else. Those non-served stations should not even be on the maps.
Looking at the same Pretoria map I cannot determine whether I can get a through train from Denneboom to De Wildt and if not, what trains to take and where to change trains. I happen to know I can't get a through train, but does a person unfamiliar with the Metrorail system know that? Oh, and navigating to the correct map and enlarging it is certainly not a lesson in intuition! And I cannot download the maps as PDFs for off-line reference and printing either. Take a look at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/1106.aspx and http://www.paris.org/Metro/gifs/metro.pdfto see how to present metro rail maps.
Why does Metrorail not implement numbered, colour-coded or named routes and maps like other Metro systems do? The London Underground does this particularly well; so do most other cities. From an Underground map I, as an inexperienced visitor, can map out exactly how to get from one point on the network to another and at which stations I should change trains when necessary. At those interchange stations, I can find the correct line and train by route name, e.g. Bakerloo line (route numbers in Paris, route codes and colours in New York, route colours in Boston).
Hopefully a useful crique for Metrorail's website admins and management to go away and think about. And, if they need to see how to do a good website I shall refer them to: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube

[Steve Appleton]

Just seen Luca's post, obviously written at almost the same time as mine. Great minds and all that!

[Steve Appleton]

Continuing the theme; this time not critiquing the Metrorail website itself.
I happen to know, from FOTR staffers who use Metrorail trains, that there is some logic to the 4-digit train numbers displayed (and sometimes not) on the front of the trains. Apparently for those in the know the first digit indicates the destination! For example a train with the first didgit "1" is headed to destination "X". One with the first digit "2" to destination "Y" and so on. Unless you are a seasoned Metrorail passenger how, on earth, is one supposed to know that? Why not display the destination's name and a "via" routing?
As for the unintelligible, incomprehensible station announcements, and the ghastly, incessant, distorted, blaring music, the less said the better!
Good luck to the 2010 visitors that venture on to the Metrorail system. I hope they are well prepared for a navigational adventure that could form the basis of a hit reality TV show!

[Luca Lategan]

Haha, I just read yours too, Steve, and thought, uhm, this is seems a lot like my post. But Steve, yes, Metrorail/PRASA does not need to reinvent their teethed wheel, other countries have perfected the Metro system in the technological age long ago and Africa does not need to be an excuse as to why we can't have the same type of online services here.

Again, Cape Town has a linear route map on their website as well as inside most trains (90% I would say). This is much more interpretable from a commuter point of view. The only problem I have with it is that the Stellenbosch loop seems to be the wrong way round.

The maps made by one "Wwwdigi" found on Wikipedia is on the other hand very good, they can be found here: Cape Town (if you are reading this Wwwdigi, it's the Bellville line, not Belleville!) and Gauteng

Metro trains in Cape Town also uses the number system, from timetables I've figured out the following:
Bellville -> 28xx
Eersterivier -> 23xx
Kraaifontein -> 25xx
Malmesbury -> 26xx
Simonstad -> 01xx / 02xx (There are more than a hundred trains on this line a day, hence 02xx)
Stellenbosch -> 34xx
Strand -> 32xx
Wellington -> 35xx
Cape Flats -> 05xx
Khayelitsha -> 94xx
Khayelitsha via Pinelands -> 93xx
Khayelitsha express -> 999x
Kapteinsklip -> 95xx
Kapteinsklip via Ysterplaat -> 92xx
Ble via Sarepta -> 90xx
Of course trains during maintanence periods and other goods trains have other types of numbers

Up trains (to Cape Town) ends on even numbers (00,02,04)
Down trains (from Cape Town) ends on odd numbers (01,03...99)

There are spaces in the numbering sequence for no apparent reason.

Don't try to get help from security gaurds as they are still just a buquet of 'Stasieblompotte', now in a beautiful green jacket that doesn't even understand English, not to mention Afrikaans. Station announcements in the Cape is improving, on the Stellenbosch line they always say, "Cape Town train on the line" or "Muldersvlei train on the line" and then a rhyme about standing clear of the yellow line and how you must report doors that are not closing in Afrikaans/English or English/Xhosa.

[Jerome West]

Thanks, I am actually enjoying all the critiques. My role in the Metrorail website is a big ZERO although some of my images have been used.

I am a freelance web designer/developer contracted to Metrorail Gauteng Region. My contract has come to an end last December but as things are I am on a month to month basis waiting for the tender to be awarded. I developed the current Wits intranet and am busy with integrating the Tshwane intranet and Wits intranet into one with new automated applications. The marketing department uses me the most doing posters and flyers for them. PRASA has also just discovered me and I have done a lot of marketing material around the Confederations Cup for all the business units.

So please continue, as I can use this to strengthen my case as I am about to redesign the intranet because of the one region now and if they like what I do then maybe I can try convince then to let me have a go at the internet (if I am still here that is). Feed me Seymour.

[Luca Lategan]

Did you do the Confed Loftus and Ellis timetables and Shosho advertisements? If so, well done.

But it does seem as though PRASA and Metrorail now thinks that just posting PDF's on their site is good enough, we want HTML inter-active information!

[Jerome West]

Thank You. Yes I did all the advertisements and the timetables is my design but some other company added the times in.

[Luca Lategan]

Was that Loftus/Ellis timetable meant to be used as a wall poster?

[Marc Russell]

The website in it's current state seems to be geared up for the sole purpose of getting the people to the soccer. The train operations, I'm sure were a success. However I found that getting the information was not as easy. The timetables were so small that it was difficult to see the station names.
All in all the concept is great, the execution should be better.
Without a timetable it is impossible to correspond with the train number to understand the stopping pattern of each service. No matter how hard I tried I could not get one in CT or Joburg. However I did obtain one in Pretoria and was startled to learn that it cost R3.