Are the storm doors being locked on all 60ft and IRT trains?

[U-BahnNYC]

While riding an R179 on the earlier, I noticed a man trying to move between train cars was unable to open the storm doors. I tried it out myself and, indeed, they were locked. I went into another car to check, and they were also locked! I believe I was in cars 3248 and 3249. 

Is this just a random occurrence, or is the  really now locking the doors on ALL trains?! If the latter, that's incredibly stupid because I think it makes the subway even more dangerous when some deranged lunatic or tense situation happens in one car and you can't move to another for safety. 

[Calvin]

15 minutes ago, U-BahnNYC said:

While riding an R179 on the earlier, I noticed a man trying to move between train cars was unable to open the storm doors. I tried it out myself and, indeed, they were locked. I went into another car to check, and they were also locked! I believe I was in cars 3248 and 3249. 

Is this just a random occurrence, or is the  really now locking the doors on ALL trains?! If the latter, that's incredibly stupid because I think it makes the subway even more dangerous when some deranged lunatic or tense situation happens in one car and you can't move to another for safety. 

I believe it was a random occurrence. Because, I was on the  train, the storm doors are opened. However, it was observed that someone moved to another car when the train wasn't moving. This was at 34 St-Hudson Yards. Maybe it was a test to prevent slips while in motion but locking all the doors could be trouble which you mentioned is something I agree on. I'm seeing locked doors as a safety caution but seeing that locked doors can be a problem to unable to escape something that can be violent. 

Edited April 15, 2023 by Calvin

[U-BahnNYC]

18 minutes ago, Calvin said:

I believe it was a random occurrence. Because, I was on the  train, the storm doors are opened. However, it was observed that someone moved to another car when the train wasn't moving. This was at 34 St-Hudson Yards. Maybe it was a test to prevent slips while in motion but locking all the doors could be trouble which you mentioned is something I agree on. I'm seeing locked doors as a safety caution but seeing that locked doors can be a problem to unable to escape something that can be violent. 

I was trapped on an R46 train over a year ago in between stations. There was a crazed homeless man smoking a massive, smelly cigar that rapidly filled up the entire car with awful smoke. The train was stuck at an odd curved angle, so I started getting vertigo. Above all, there was absolutely 0, and I mean ZERO communication from the crew about anything for a solid 10-15 minutes (which, given the circumstances, felt more like an hour). Extremely unprofessional mediocrity as usual from the  employees. 

Had the doors been unlocked, I would have been easily able to move. 

I really don't give a damn about the 'locked doors are safe' argument. People should be given the freedom to weigh the risks: if the train is stalled between stations and there is an uncomfortable or dangerous situation, I am fine with taking the tiny risk of crossing the gap as an able-bodied person, as opposed to being trapped on a death trap with a lunatic onboard. 

Edited April 15, 2023 by U-BahnNYC

[Jdog14]

The storm doors are usually only locked to isolate the car if there is a hazard in the car (ie vomit, blood). 

[CyclonicTrainLookout]

17 hours ago, Calvin said:

I believe it was a random occurrence. Because, I was on the  train, the storm doors are opened. However, it was observed that someone moved to another car when the train wasn't moving. This was at 34 St-Hudson Yards. Maybe it was a test to prevent slips while in motion but locking all the doors could be trouble which you mentioned is something I agree on. I'm seeing locked doors as a safety caution but seeing that locked doors can be a problem to unable to escape something that can be violent. 

It could be in a few trains undergoing a test but that wasn't the case in a  train I took today. People have moved in between cars while the train was in motion. I'm inclined to think the locked door case was unintentional or was used to quarantine a car.

17 hours ago, U-BahnNYC said:

I was trapped on an R46 train over a year ago in between stations. There was a crazed homeless man smoking a massive, smelly cigar that rapidly filled up the entire car with awful smoke. The train was stuck at an odd curved angle, so I started getting vertigo. Above all, there was absolutely 0, and I mean ZERO communication from the crew about anything for a solid 10-15 minutes (which, given the circumstances, felt more like an hour). Extremely unprofessional mediocrity as usual from the  employees. 

Had the doors been unlocked, I would have been easily able to move. 

I really don't give a damn about the 'locked doors are safe' argument. People should be given the freedom to weigh the risks: if the train is stalled between stations and there is an uncomfortable or dangerous situation, I am fine with taking the tiny risk of crossing the gap as an able-bodied person, as opposed to being trapped on a death trap with a lunatic onboard. 

I thought the R46s and the R68/As have their storm doors locked specifically because their longer lengths make it unsafe to move in between cars as the trains goes through a tight curve? I could be wrong however.

[Calvin]

5 minutes ago, CyclonicTrainLookout said:

It could be in a few trains undergoing a test but that wasn't the case in a  train I took today. People have moved in between cars while the train was in motion. I'm inclined to think the locked door case was unintentional or was used to quarantine a car.

I thought the R46s and the R68/As have their storm doors locked specifically because their longer lengths make it unsafe to move in between cars as the trains goes through a tight curve? I could be wrong however.

The R46s and R68/As are acceptable to this because, yes, the curves are unsafe if you're walking between cars in motion. I'm thinking the storm doors can be automated on and off when the train is not in motion and can be opened in the operator cab as to having a switch that says "open linked doors". That's just a thought in-case of an unexpected emergency. 

[nightmare402]

52 minutes ago, Calvin said:

The R46s and R68/As are acceptable to this because, yes, the curves are unsafe if you're walking between cars in motion. I'm thinking the storm doors can be automated on and off when the train is not in motion and can be opened in the operator cab as to having a switch that says "open linked doors". That's just a thought in-case of an unexpected emergency. 

i remember reading somewhere that was a planned feature to have doors auto lock when turning but it would cost too much.

[Kamen Rider]

there are tight corners where if I'm standing in the right side of the cab, the car in front swings so far that I can see straight through it. the storm door of the other cab lines up with the windshield of my cab. 

The R46s have a switch on the console, but it requires my door control key and it has to stay in the slot.

the R68/As have a simple toggle switch on the wall.  

[CenSin]

On 4/15/2023 at 1:56 AM, U-BahnNYC said:

I really don't give a damn about the 'locked doors are safe' argument. People should be given the freedom to weigh the risks

Freedom and Darwinism FTW

[Mtatransit]

On 4/15/2023 at 1:56 AM, U-BahnNYC said:

I was trapped on an R46 train over a year ago in between stations. There was a crazed homeless man smoking a massive, smelly cigar that rapidly filled up the entire car with awful smoke. The train was stuck at an odd curved angle, so I started getting vertigo. Above all, there was absolutely 0, and I mean ZERO communication from the crew about anything for a solid 10-15 minutes (which, given the circumstances, felt more like an hour). Extremely unprofessional mediocrity as usual from the  employees. 

I really don't give a damn about the 'locked doors are safe' argument. People should be given the freedom to weigh the risks: if the train is stalled between stations and there is an uncomfortable or dangerous situation, I am fine with taking the tiny risk of crossing the gap as an able-bodied person, as opposed to being trapped on a death trap with a lunatic onboard. 

I moved between train cars for this exact reason. A police officer was in the other car, and I got a ticket at the other car, because we are not allowed to move between train cars. Went to TAB, which BTW is rigged, unless you are dying or in danger of dying, you are technically prohibited from moving between train car. Easy $75 they took from me, cause they can't actually enforce no smoking on the train

[AZthefoamer]

Not aware of the cab doors being locked. While they are important in emergencies, they mostly get used for homeless people going between cars and begging for money, subway surfers, or smokers. We do not really need them there.

[RTOMan]

No they aren't and they aren't supposed to be.

Cab Doors on the other hand MUST be locked to keep the silly buff kids and other miscreants out of them...

[RTOMan]

On 4/17/2023 at 7:59 PM, AZthefoamer said:

Not aware of the cab doors being locked. While they are important in emergencies, they mostly get used for homeless people going between cars and begging for money, subway surfers, or smokers. We do not really need them there.

Cab doors lead to operating cabs they stay Locked Period...

[AZthefoamer]

3 hours ago, RTOMan said:

Cab doors lead to operating cabs they stay Locked Period...

Of course.

[T to Dyre Avenue]

On 4/17/2023 at 7:59 PM, AZthefoamer said:

Not aware of the cab doors being locked. While they are important in emergencies, they mostly get used for homeless people going between cars and begging for money, subway surfers, or smokers. We do not really need them there.

Those aren’t cab doors. They’re end doors or bulkhead doors. And the only ones I ever saw locked on subway cars shorter than 75ft are the ones at the very front and very end of the trains made up of pre-R44 cars, none of which had full-width cabs.

[AZthefoamer]

Yes, I meant storm doors. But yes, you are right, I never see 60 foot/A division trains with locked storm doors.

[Kamen Rider]

we lock those doors when we isolate a car for whatever reason. what probably happened was that car had previously been isolated and someone forgot to unlock the storm doors when the car was "normalized". 

 

That's it. this is a non-issue... and I know that because I forgot once and had to go back and unlock it.