Passenger Trains > Priggish Nanny State Do-Gooders Strike Again

> Some commuters in Mansfield (MA) are concerned about the Amtrak
> Acela train that passes through the town at 120 miles per hour.
>
> At Mansfield Station, there is a yellow line on the platform warning
> people to stay back two feet. The only other warning that the very
> quiet, very fast train is approaching, is an announcement on a
> loudspeaker.
>
> Some passengers say it's not enough.
>
> Town officials want Amtrak to put sensors further down the track so
> that the audio alert comes about a minute before the train arrives,
> not 30 seconds. Some are also suggesting that an alarm sound when
> the Acela is approaching. Currently, the same alert is played for
> Acela trains that pass by the station and Commuter Rail trains that
> stop at the station.
>
> Amtrak says they are looking into it.


http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/01/18/mansfield-raises-concerns-over-amtrak-acela-warning-system/

If they did this in Europe it would further bankrupt the EU countries by a lot!

Thirty seconds ought to be plenty of time for people to stand back from the platform edge.

I've been there when an Acela went through, though. It's quite impressive, and no place for someone who isn't paying attention to be. A lot of safety/protection initiatives are intended to save people who aren't paying attention.

A minute gives 'em too much time to put the earbuds back in, or look down and start texting again... === === = === JLH

andersonb109 Wrote:
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> If they did this in Europe it would further
> bankrupt the EU countries by a lot!

I was not aware that any EU country was bankrupt, although Greece, which has essentially no rail services, is close.

toledopatch Wrote:
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> Thirty seconds ought to be plenty of time for
> people to stand back from the platform edge.
>
> I've been there when an Acela went through,
> though. It's quite impressive, and no place for
> someone who isn't paying attention to be. A lot of
> safety/protection initiatives are intended to save
> people who aren't paying attention.

People who are unaware of their surroundings are often in danger of many things, from what I can tell.

I thought this thread might be about an uproar in Toronto, where people have asked for a ban or limit on those giant strollers using public transit. It appears that they block the aisles and make access, egress etc difficult for many passengers, including others using giant strollers. That has provoked a counter attack by owners of said strollers.

A waggish thought -

since the problem is with people on the platform risking being too close to a passing ACELA, and since the T loses money on each passenger it carries (on an allocated basis of costs), wouldn't it make more sense to close the Mansfield station . . . eliminating anyone from standing on the platform too close to the tracks and saving the T the money it loses on those passengers?

They want Amtrak to foot the bill...

The Commonwealth owns the ROW from the RI state line to Boston...and this is a T station ,not an Amtrak station.

on't think so.


GenePoon Wrote:
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> > Some commuters in Mansfield (MA) are concerned
> about the Amtrak
> > Acela train that passes through the town at 120
> miles per hour.
> >
> > At Mansfield Station, there is a yellow line on
> the platform warning
> > people to stay back two feet. The only other
> warning that the very
> > quiet, very fast train is approaching, is an
> announcement on a
> > loudspeaker.
> >
> > Some passengers say it's not enough.
> >
> > Town officials want Amtrak to put sensors
> further down the track so
> > that the audio alert comes about a minute before
> the train arrives,
> > not 30 seconds. Some are also suggesting that an
> alarm sound when
> > the Acela is approaching. Currently, the same
> alert is played for
> > Acela trains that pass by the station and
> Commuter Rail trains that
> > stop at the station.
> >
> > Amtrak says they are looking into it.
>
>
>

Trains go pretty fast through Kingston, RI and people there
seem to have adjusted

RevRandy Wrote:
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> A waggish thought -
>
> since the problem is with people on the platform
> risking being too close to a passing ACELA, and
> since the T loses money on each passenger it
> carries (on an allocated basis of costs), wouldn't
> it make more sense to close the Mansfield station
> . . . eliminating anyone from standing on the
> platform too close to the tracks and saving the T
> the money it loses on those passengers?

==============================================================

Or cut the warning time to five seconds, in the hope that the T would thus PERMANENTLY lose
some of those moneylosing customers? That would also rid the world of some of the whimpering
weenies who believe in the Nanny State and think up this stuff.

Yup. I'm being waggish today, too!

I don't live in Mansfield, but a few years back when I attended my cousin's funeral there, I brought
my camera hoping to get a shot or two afterwards at the station. Well, when I stepped onto the platform, in the FAR distance I saw a headlight on the track. Before I could reach my car to get my camera, that inbound train sped by at a very high rate of speed, I stood these amazed. Two feet from the edge of the platform is perhaps not enough distance to prevent being sucked away by the train.
Frank30

Frank30 Wrote:
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> Two feet from the edge of the platform is perhaps not
> enough distance to prevent being sucked away by
> the train.

Didn't "Mythbusters" pretty much disprove the idea of a suction effect? It showed a baby stroller being blown over and down a platform by the air currents of a moving train, but the stroller was not sucked into the train.

Didn't see the episode but that does make sense. The wind effect is going in the direction of the train so it tends to blow things in that directions. At the front of the train you would feel a puff ?? of air as the train compresses that air in its way. At the rear of the train there would be a void 'of some kind' where the air closes in behind the last car. Somewhere along the plan of going through life, someone(s) have to start paying attention. Maybe....

I agree with Gene there is a warning system which we call TAMS that warn passengers of a train comIng. When they fail there is a Speed Restriction .What happen to Common Sense? And on TK 1 we are doing 135 to get to 150 and TK 2 we are slowing to 135 and don't plan on slowing because people are brainless!!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/13 09:33 by mobujr.

The problem with an earlier warning - i.e. the one minute proposal - is that warning too early conditions people to ignore the warning for a while. The current thirty second interval seems about right to me. I've been in stations in the UK that have a recorded voice warning to the effect of "high speed train approaching" whenever a 125MPH HST is about to blow through.

Dave

There also is the matter of slippage--what is called the Zeno paradox--where after one minute is in place for a while, people will want a two minute one.

Ptolemy Wrote:
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> There also is the matter of slippage--what is
> called the Zeno paradox--where after one minute is
> in place for a while, people will want a two
> minute one.

That's also a good reason for variable warnings. Thirty seconds this time, 45 seconds, then 15 seconds, etc. People are conditioned to look up and confirm which situation is present.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ptolemy Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > There also is the matter of slippage--what is
> > called the Zeno paradox--where after one minute
> is
> > in place for a while, people will want a two
> > minute one.
>
> That's also a good reason for variable warnings.
> Thirty seconds this time, 45 seconds, then 15
> seconds, etc. People are conditioned to look up
> and confirm which situation is present.

Great until the estate of the person who gets smoked after the 15-second warning files a multi-million-dollar lawsuit challenging its adequacy....

Where the heck is the love button????

CB

RevRandy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A waggish thought -
>
> since the problem is with people on the platform
> risking being too close to a passing ACELA, and
> since the T loses money on each passenger it
> carries (on an allocated basis of costs), wouldn't
> it make more sense to close the Mansfield station
> . . . eliminating anyone from standing on the
> platform too close to the tracks and saving the T
> the money it loses on those passengers?

For people who work around the railroad; its called situational awareness. For someone who isn't familiar with or understand railroad operations; its called common sense