Public transport goes social with Twitter, blogs

French public transport companies are getting more and more connected to their passenger base, be it via real-time updates on Twitter, blogs open to user comments and criticism, or smartphone apps. The latest foray into the 2.0 world is by RATP, the urban transport operator that runs the Paris Metro, with new Twitter accounts for four of the capital's most-used subway lines launching on Wednesday. From 6am-9pm, the four lines will tweet real-time news on circulation, maintenance work progress, delays, accidents or breakdowns. Following a three-month trial period, if all goes well, the rest of the Metro's 14 lines as well as the suburban train network will also join Twitter. French railway operator SNCF is also going social, with posters all over the city promising passengers a new smartphone app called SNCF Direct, as well as blogs dedicated to passengers on RER, Transilien and Intercity rail lines. Here train riders can get updates on current traffic conditions, maintenance and delays, but also comment and criticize if need be. Run by rail company client relations people, the blogs invite users to interface in a series of ways, from proposed monthly meetings at one of the RER A line stops, to periodic posts answering the most interesting comments, as on a site dedicated to the Paris-Amiens line, one of the busiest commuter links, to encouraging blog readers to interact with each other. The SNCF Travel site, for example, encourages readers to ''exchange information and tricks'' on railway travel.