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Stephen Sprunk

On 28-Jan-12 14:23, wrote:
On Jan 28, 8:10 am, "
wrote:
[Passenger buttons to open doors] is widely used in Europe, I should
add. As well, the the new rolling stock on the London Underground's
Metropolitan line has it.

The NJT River Line has it, so that boarding or alighting passengers
may open the doors at station stops or at terminals. I think it's an
illuminated green button, but otherwise it's unmarked. The motorman
has to activate it; sometimes the motorman retains control of the
doors himself.

Such buttons seem to be common on "light rail" operations in the US.
The operator has two distinct controls: one to lock/unlock the doors and
another to open/close the doors. If he merely unlocks the doors, it is
up to the passengers to press a button to open the door(s) they wish to
use, which then automatically close again after a short time. This
seems advantageous in unpleasant weather, at lightly-used stations or at
terminals where the train may stop for an extended period.

BTW, the NJT River Line is a more modern platform design--it's higher
than the US "low platform", but not as high as "high platform", so
freights can clear the station.

The River Line uses 55cm platforms. "High" and "low" aren't terribly
meaningful when addressing an int'l audience that may be familiar with a
dozen different platform heights.

S

--
Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking