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And here's why you should never lean against the doors on Red Line trains
By adamg on Tue, 04/02/2013 - 9:35pm
Erika Myllmaki videoed an open door on a Red Line train pulling into Andrew today.
Via Scott Rides the T.
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Comments
Yikes
A door opened I was standing near on the green line inbound between Boylston and Park Street a few weeks ago, but it closed before the train moved at all. It was unnerving to have the door open in the tunnel while the train was still, with fellow passengers inching away nervously, let alone having the train moving.
we all space out on the green line -- we have to
I've seen the doors open and immediately close on the wrong side of an intersection of a surface stop on the green line (albeit, maybe twice in 20 years), and conversely I've seen a train pull up to a red light before an intersection, a passenger yell 'back door' and walk to the front irately before realizing that they haven't entered the platform yet. We all have our moments.
Since the train is stopped (and you shouldn't be leaning on the doors anyway) I wouldn't really bothered by a green line train opening its doors unexpectedly. I can't say that if I drove a train up and down Comm. Ave all day that I wouldn't accidently have a moment once in my career and open the doors on the wrong side of Pleasant Street or whereever.
This red line video is another thing altogether. Like the Twitter comments suggest, I hope this videographer used the emergency intercom and reported the door being open before taking this video. The green line thing is a simple mistake that shouldn't hurt anyone since the vehicle is stopped -- this could.
I hear you about the above
I hear you about the above ground, the door opening underground outside of a stop is just creepy to look out into a black tunnel in general.
No one was leaning against
No one was leaning against the door but I had over exaggerated visions of subway rats in the tunnel dancing through my head.
That still shot looks like
the Monolith from "2001". So the origins of creation can really be found on the Red Line.....
The T....
....it's full of stars.....
Amtrak
I've seen the outer vestibule doors wide open on Amtrak Regional trains; those are doing up to 110 mph I believe.
Actually seemed to be happening on a regular basis; almost every other trip I took I would spot an open door, while walking to the cafe car, and report it to the conductor. Aging equipment, I guess.
Used to see this on Commuter Rail trains
Back when I was in college 97-03 I used to see this all the time on the Commuter Rail trains. There would even be people standing in the vestibules while the doors were wide open.
Yeah, the Commuter Rail used
Yeah, the Commuter Rail used to run with doors open all the time. It's not as much of a problem if there's a vestibule.
Plenty of rail systems around the world run like this, or have doors that passengers can open themselves at any time.
this is never supposed to happen
There's an interlock system that is supposed to trip the train's emergency brakes if any door is opened; why didn't it work here?
That's how a lot of lazy conductors used to operate the trains - they'd slam the door-open button while the train was still moving, to both stop the train and pop open the doors. I think the practice has fallen a bit out of favor these days, but the dead giveaway is the "PSSSSSHHHHT!" from the emergency brakes being tripped and the doors popping open a split second after the train has stopped moving.
Idiots
Seems Fox news picked up on this as well. That story noted that the train went 4 stops before being taken out of service. So while someone whipped out their camera, no one went to the intercom to call the operator to let them know a door was open?? It was more fun to watch than to report?
I don't think there's any
I don't think there's any interlock. Drivers have a door light.
I really doubt a driver would go that far with a door light on. Probably the door light sensor was broken, along with the door motor that should have kept the door closed.
Drivers occasionally set the parking brake while the train is coming to a stop at a terminal, instead of once it's already stopped. A little while back, the T posted signs at Alewife saying they're not supposed to do this, because it supposedly can injure passengers (which isn't likely -- the emergency brakes trip from time to time due to cab signal dropouts and it's no big deal), and causes flat spots on wheels.