Leaves on the (phone) line

A UK-based bulk deliverer of SMS text-messages, KAPOW!, is to harness people power by setting up a trial SMS railway-commuter club.

Commuters arriving at a station to find severe delays will notify other commuters of cancellations and delays as soon as they hear about them.

Kapow! has also published traditional British railway excuses – not all serious - in five different languages so that club members and others can tell foreign visitors why there is no train or about other inconveniences.

The first trial club will cover neighbouring stations Sidcup, inKent, and New Eltham, south London. The trial will test the viability of the service over a two-month period and will be provided free to a limited number of commuters. If successful, commuters will be able to register to receive warning messages for a small charge per SMS.

Steve Petty, who has commuted from Sidcup to London for 10 years said: "This.. could save significant inconvenience for commuters. It is so frustrating to rush down to the station just to wait on a crowded platform, when I could have made other arrangements if only I'd known earlier.

“It seems a shame that the railway operators themselves couldn't do this but in so many cases they don't even tell the staff on the stations what is happening, so in the end passengers are forced to help themselves.”
http://www.kapow.co.uk/rail