Not very reliable. The remote only had four buttons (volume up/down, channel up/down) and various sounds like kitchen appliances, flushing toilets, and jingling keys would be interpreted as remote control actions by the TV.
My grandfather had one; he seemed to find it more entertaining to talk to people about it than to actual use it.
While I could be wrong (and often am) I don't think there's a way to tell which track segments are switched on/off or which station platforms are in "hold" mode from the GTFS feed.
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