SLE sets banned west of new haven

I saw a thing on twitter that the SLE cars are now banned west of new haven and this is what holding up the return of the stamford express return

They've been banned for years. The Stamford turns were removed due to that and covid reductions.

What's the reasoning for that?

Manual doors.

So after all the years of no issues with the door they can no longer operate down there i call that complete BS. they ended service due to Covid people want the service back

Call BS all you want. Those are the facts...

I have manual doors in my house and car. Never had much difficulty operating them.

BandA wrote: ↑Fri Feb 18, 2022 3:49 pm I have manual doors in my house and car. Never had much difficulty operating them.

Chances are you won’t fall out of your house at 60+ mph if one manages to open unintentionally. And your car doors open outward, which makes them very difficult to open when in motion. Train doors open inward, allowing Darwin candidates the ability to nominate themselves for the award.

Apples to oranges comparison aside, I agree that it’s a poor excuse, but it is the actual reason; it had nothing to do with COVID.

Jim

Is it more specifically due to the lack of door interlocks? Does Amtrak has anything between New Haven and New Rochelle that uses manual doors? The Vermonter?

gregorygrice wrote: ↑Thu Feb 17, 2022 10:44 am Manual doors.

They have had manual doors since acquired by Metro North. Makes no sense to deem them "unsafe" on the New Haven Line (AFTER allowing them to operate as they are for years), while allowing them to operate on the Springfield Line and Shoreline East services.

As to the comment about which way the doors open, I have not ridden on the recently acquired cars for the expansion of Springfield Line service, but the Mafersa cars are sliders, they don't open "in."

Was the "special instruction" the result of an "incident" involving the doors, or did the "standards" just magically change?

XBNSFer wrote: ↑Sun Feb 27, 2022 4:15 pm

gregorygrice wrote: ↑Thu Feb 17, 2022 10:44 am Manual doors.

They have had manual doors since acquired by Metro North. Makes no sense to deem them "unsafe" on the New Haven Line (AFTER allowing them to operate as they are for years), while allowing them to operate on the Springfield Line and Shoreline East services.

As to the comment about which way the doors open, I have not ridden on the recently acquired cars for the expansion of Springfield Line service, but the Mafersa cars are sliders, they don't open "in."

Was the "special instruction" the result of an "incident" involving the doors, or did the "standards" just magically change?

Metro-North has never "acquired" any of these cars. They are owned by and maintained by ConnDOT for use on Shore Line East (and now also the Hartford Line). MNR agreed to run them for those 4 SLE round trips. That has since been changed due to the reasons listed above...

gregorygrice wrote: ↑Thu Feb 17, 2022 10:44 am Manual doors.

So do the Mafersas have a door light or not? SLE west was removed because of crew change politics I think. Covid was a PR excuse. The fact that SLEs loiter WEST of stamford for 30 mins, and then sit another 20 minutes on track 2, before boarding, at the peak of rush hour. SLE is a capacity killer at Stamford until someone rewrites the time table, and sacks multiple middle management folks in operations. "SOGR", Atlantic Avenue Bridge, (Elm is next), Walk bridge. And maybe MNRR stole SLE's slots for Danbury shuttles orig from Stamford during rush. Maybe once the stalled Track 7 at Stamford project finishes, SLE can terminate on T7. 2 track railroad remember.

Mafersa have manually operated doors. No electronics or motors in the doors. No door lights.

Shore Line East is not a "capacity killer" at Stamford. SLE itself is not banned west of New Haven. The Mafersa coaches are. When SLE returns back to Stamford (or GCT), it will be with M8s, which are the cars that are currently used for the service.

Saw a set of SLE M8's at Stamford a couple of months ago. They're easy to identify even without looking at the missing shoes; they're emblazoned with "CTRail".

Erie-Lackawanna wrote: ↑Fri Feb 18, 2022 8:20 pm
Chances are you won’t fall out of your house at 60+ mph if one manages to open unintentionally.

Has this ever happened? We used to see EL run doors open in the Northeast for years. Still happens in Portugal - I must've closed 10 doors on the Douro Valley train last spring at 55mph (90kph?). I know it seems scary having a door open at speed, but the ultimate arbiter of what is safe and not safe is the historic numbers.

I've never heard of a person falling out of an errantly open vestibule door ever.

This is a giant kerfufle in Scotland as well right now. The Jacobite train, a beloved steam operation on mainline for the west highlands, has "slam door" cars. Network Rail recently ordered an outright ban on slam door cars because "Its not safe".

Well the numbers beg to differ. Right now I'd be more worried about grade crossing side strikes, which we know have happened and killed passengers, than open doors.