by Tommy Meehan
Every summer now we seem to get a few incidents where a train (usually a commuter train) breaks down and passengers have to endure an hour or two in sweltering conditions in sealed window coaches without a/c or ventilation.
It happened a few weeks ago on MARC and last weekend on Metro-North's New Haven Line. In each case passengers were kept in cars without ventilation for an hour or more in ninety-degree-plus weather. In each case passengers complained the cars became unbearably hot. In each case there were passengers who reportedly required medical attention. In the MARC incident it was confirmed that ten people required treatment with three people taken to local hospitals.
As a longtime commuter, it seems pretty obvious to me that the managements DON'T want to evacuate trains and for several good reasons too. First is passenger safety, trains often pick nasty places to breakdown and second, it can often mean big delays to other trains that are still running. But it also occurs to me, in focussing on keeping the system moving, the operating people may be missing the big picture. Maybe we need an outside agancy to take a look at these incidents.
Heat can kill. One MARC commuter said she was surprised that there was no attempt to "inventory" the passengers on her stalled train and see to it that at least elderly persons or anyone claiming to be diabetic or with asthma or a heart ailment was evacuated, either by railroad police or local police.
Since these situations always seem to wind up pitting railroad against passenger, is it time the FRA came up with some rules on how long passengers can be kept on stalled trains in cars with no ventilation during very hot weather? To take the decision out of the hands of the operating managers -- who obviously have an strong incentive in NOT evacuating -- and provide a formula in which if the outside temperature is over X degrees passengers MUST be taken off the train after X number of minutes?
Sooner or later some poor soul is going to go into cardiac arrest in one of these situations. I don't think anyone wants that.
It happened a few weeks ago on MARC and last weekend on Metro-North's New Haven Line. In each case passengers were kept in cars without ventilation for an hour or more in ninety-degree-plus weather. In each case passengers complained the cars became unbearably hot. In each case there were passengers who reportedly required medical attention. In the MARC incident it was confirmed that ten people required treatment with three people taken to local hospitals.
As a longtime commuter, it seems pretty obvious to me that the managements DON'T want to evacuate trains and for several good reasons too. First is passenger safety, trains often pick nasty places to breakdown and second, it can often mean big delays to other trains that are still running. But it also occurs to me, in focussing on keeping the system moving, the operating people may be missing the big picture. Maybe we need an outside agancy to take a look at these incidents.
Heat can kill. One MARC commuter said she was surprised that there was no attempt to "inventory" the passengers on her stalled train and see to it that at least elderly persons or anyone claiming to be diabetic or with asthma or a heart ailment was evacuated, either by railroad police or local police.
Since these situations always seem to wind up pitting railroad against passenger, is it time the FRA came up with some rules on how long passengers can be kept on stalled trains in cars with no ventilation during very hot weather? To take the decision out of the hands of the operating managers -- who obviously have an strong incentive in NOT evacuating -- and provide a formula in which if the outside temperature is over X degrees passengers MUST be taken off the train after X number of minutes?
Sooner or later some poor soul is going to go into cardiac arrest in one of these situations. I don't think anyone wants that.
Last edited by Tommy Meehan on Tue Jul 13, 2010 7:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.