r/Amtrak • u/Chance_Blacksmith111 • 1d ago
Question Is this regular protocol
Is this normal on Amtrak? On train 171 and these doors have been open the whole trip, from Philly through Virginia for like four cars all open. I told the conductor and she said no. They're supposed to be closed but she stayed chatting with other conductors in cafe car. Also cars are about 59° Weird
113
u/NoSignificance1903 AGR Select Plus 1d ago
Those cars are ~50 years old, so sometimes those doors just get stuck open. However, if both were open, that might just be the crew forgetting to close them. There's a little switch in the vestibule under a red cover. It has three positions "open," "normal," and "manual." Normal is in the middle and is what it should be set to, open is used for station stops to prevent it closing on people, and manual is generally used as a fallback if the mechanism is getting wonky. It's mainly intended to be used by crews but it's accessible to passengers for a reason—if it's set to open, you can set it to normal.
40
u/Chance_Blacksmith111 1d ago
I have zero intention of ever touching Amtrak equipment. What I will do is tell people who ARE authorized to touch Amtrak equipment. I guess it's their decision what happens after that.
20
u/JazzlikeEntry8288 1d ago
I was on that same train when it arrived at NYP this afternoon. Those trains are decades old and things tend to stick due to wear and age. That particular train has had some miles on it
5
u/Fantastic_Week1984 15h ago
Commuter trains have the same issues. It’s not that serious.
6
u/thatguyin75 12h ago
it is when your on the floridian and its winter and the vestibules are icing over and snowy and the door wont close.....
1
19
u/Automatic_Pipe7172 1d ago
do not ever touch Amtrak Safety Equipment. If they wanted you to touch it they would teach you what it does. It is considered safety equipment, do not touch it.
3
u/spacecrafttheskys 16h ago
Amtrak also has police on board employed by them in same cases you may just get in trouble there.
The safety equipment that is touchable usually has operation instructions on it (fire extinguishers, the axes for breaking windows etc) and is only acceptable to grab in emergency situations.
1
u/NoSignificance1903 AGR Select Plus 1d ago
If they wanted passengers not to touch it, they would put up some sort of sign (as they do on all equipment operable by passengers only in emergencies) or would have it operable by key only. Instead, the switches have labels detailing their operation visible to passengers.
The switches operate a door designed to be operated by passengers. Arguably, a bathroom door and lock is "safety equipment" yet passengers are still permitted to touch it. Same goes for the kick plates on the doors.
8
u/Belvedere48 17h ago
Seriously, the difference betwen actual real life and Reddit world of 'OMG, there could be a lawsuit and thousands could die and I watch a lot of TV so I know what's up' lol.
1
u/Any_Sale2030 14h ago
Red cover? It’s not meant to be used except in emergencies. That’s common sense.
So what’s next for you? Pulling the emergency brake because you forgot to get off?
2
u/NoSignificance1903 AGR Select Plus 13h ago
No, that’s very different. The emergency brake impacts the safe movement of the train. This switch opens doors meant to be operated by pax.
If that end door is stuck shut, what do you think is more sensible? Flipping the switch to manual, or missing your stop?
0
u/ceruleania 14h ago
Why would passengers be given the ability to keep end doors between vestibules or a vestibule and an engine/cab car open? What did you do for Amtrak?
-2
u/NoSignificance1903 AGR Select Plus 14h ago
Please show me where I said I worked for Amtrak. Passengers have reasons for doing so-primarily when entering/exiting the train with small children, a large group, etc to ensure nobody gets squished by the doors. Especially necessary in the corridor where many doors have no Amtrak staff attending them.
Passengers may also need to use it if the automatic door mechanism isn’t working and the door is stuck shut so they can slide it open. Many commuter trains have signage explaining how to do so. In many cases, this wouldn’t be an emergency (it might be because you just want to get to the cafe car) but it’s there for that reason among others
1
u/ceruleania 6h ago
Sorry, I thought I was replying to someone else. But yeah, stop touching safety equipment
1
u/NoSignificance1903 AGR Select Plus 6h ago
I do not touch “safety equipment” except in the event of an emergency
1
u/ceruleania 5h ago
Great. I’m glad you don’t operate the employee only door switches outside of an emergency.
1
u/NoSignificance1903 AGR Select Plus 5h ago
You’re right. I don’t operate any employee only door switches.
I will, however, operate any passenger-accessible controls (unless labeled or otherwise visibly designated as for emergencies only) as needed for any legitimate purpose unless I am instructed not to by an Amtrak employee acting within their official capacity (ie an on-duty T&E or OBS employee, all of whom are prohibited from using Reddit on the clock) or a published Amtrak policy.
1
u/ceruleania 4h ago
You have advocated for and admitted to operating crew only switches on the trains throughout this thread.
→ More replies (0)2
1
-38
u/riennempeche 1d ago
The crew has intentionally set them to stay open, mostly because they are lazy and don't want to push the buttons repeatedly to open the doors. Use the switch on the wall to close them. Tell the crew to buzz off if they complain. It's not Amtrak's policy and they would get in trouble for doing it.
22
u/Entire-Mixture8954 1d ago
Don't ever touch things on equipment you have no idea what it does nor belongs to you. That is one of the quickest ways to have yourself removed from a train. The doors could be completely malfunctioning where they won't close or get stuck closed. If they get stuck closed there is potential for people to miss their stops.
-17
u/riennempeche 1d ago
Except that I do know what it does. I worked for Amtrak. I know what the crews do. Relax. It’ll be fine.
9
u/Entire-Mixture8954 1d ago
congrats you worked for Amtrak in the past and no longer do. Also no you giving terrible advice you should know way better
-16
u/NoSignificance1903 AGR Select Plus 1d ago
Numerous Amtrak conductors have thanked me for flipping that switch in a variety of circumstances—whether to fix doors that were stuck open or to open them to keep them from squishing people during stops.
12
u/Ok_Environment5293 1d ago
Sure they have, former Amtrak employee 😂😂😂
1
-9
u/NoSignificance1903 AGR Select Plus 1d ago
I never said I was. I'm a frequent rider. If Amtrak didn't want pax touching the switch, it would require a key like all the other controls not meant for passenger use.
5
u/Entire-Mixture8954 1d ago
not necessarily true, emergency dump valves are open to passengers to pull also and without a legitimate reason can lead to a misdemeanor charge
-4
-7
u/NoSignificance1903 AGR Select Plus 1d ago
Keyword "without a legitimate reason." Closing the doors to allow proper climate control and cut back on excess noise is a perfectly legitimate reason to close a door.
The dump valves also have warning signs telling passengers not to pull them unless it's an emergency. The same is true of the manual side door controls on the long distance cars. The end door switches have no such warning. Amtrak knows how to put up warning signs on equipment they don't want passengers touching. If they didn't want passengers to touch the end door switches, they would put warning labels next to them too. They don't, which allows a reasonable inference that they're OK with passengers using them when reasonable.
→ More replies (0)3
3
u/Entire-Mixture8954 1d ago
Quick question, and good you know but whats right next to the switch to the doors in the coach cars?
6
u/ceruleania 1d ago
You worked for Amtrak yet you’re telling passengers to operate a switch that is for crew use only? Is that why you don’t work for Amtrak anymore?
-1
u/Impossibleshitwomper 1d ago
No one on the crew is gonna care if you set a door switch to close, I remember doing it when I was like a 12-13 year old and nothing bad happened
3
61
u/AmonGoethsGun 1d ago
The doors may be malfunctioning or no one has bothered to close them after leaving NYP.
Or...There is a flip switch on the right side of the door that says Manual and Automatic. Flip it down to Automatic and they should close.
16
u/Entire-Contract5348 1d ago
Was on a train this past winter where the door was stuck open and I learned from one of the conductors that if it’s malfunctioning, the way to fix it is grab it and pull it back out and then slam it back open as hard as possible. Sounds crazy but it works.
12
5
3
u/ceruleania 1d ago
Those switches are for the crew to use only, not passengers. But yeah, they’re probably stuck open
16
u/Significant_Sky4635 1d ago
I had this happen recently on the NER on a very hot day for what appeared to be the conductor’s attempt at trying to normalize temperatures between cars - where one car was freezing and the adjacent was warm. Not sure if it actually worked.
12
u/abrahamguo 1d ago
No, it’s not regular protocol. Either the doors are malfunctioning, or the conductors are being weird.
3
3
u/j-joshua 1d ago
Close the door.
1
u/Chance_Blacksmith111 17h ago
That wasn't possible. It was electronically held open. They all were.
3
3
3
u/CTVolvo AGR Member 1d ago
No, they're suppose to be closed - I think some conductors just leave them open because it doesn't affect them and makes getting on and off easier. But the door issue is one reason I try to sit in the last row of forward facing seats on Northeast Regional trains because I do not want to be near a potentially open door.
2
u/Great-Cupcake-2249 1d ago
This shit has been malfunctioning since the day they came out. 50+ year old technology bruh. they needa go.
1
u/pussym0bile 1d ago
Happened to me this past friday exactly the same way as in your pic. I noted it in the feedback request email I received from them after my trip
1
1
u/AndyCandy32 9h ago
I was on 175 yesterday and i went to the cafe cart opening doors as i went. I waited to order and for my food and coming back, all the doors were still open.
0
•
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
r/Amtrak is not associated with Amtrak in any official way. Any problems, concerns, complaints, etc should be directed to Amtrak through one of the official channels.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.