First Commute of 2010

Now that the holidays are over and work has calmed down somewhat, I'm back to riding the rails on a regular basis. This morning's commute on the P508 was right on time, arriving at South Station at 8:22 AM. We did have some minor heating issues in the first car, but other than that, it was a pretty smooth trip.

Passing along some MBCR news that came into my Inbox a few weeks ago with respect to safety ... interestingly enough, this email arrived just after the news broke about that hidden break room in Somerville ...

Commuter Rail “Putting your Safety First”

Winter is here, thus “tis” the season to be train safe. At MBCR our number one priority is the safety of our passengers and employees. The winter season is upon us and we would like to offer you a few safety tips and reminders:

• Please arrive at the station and be on the platform 5 to 10 minutes prior to your train’s departure time. To keep your train on time, our conductors must adhere to the departure time shown in the timetable.
• Please be aware that once a conductor has signaled to the engineer that the train is safe to depart, he cannot stop the train to allow you to board, even if he sees you running from the parking lot.
• Customers are reminded that they must never open their own traps and doors, but instead MUST board or exit at a door where a conductor is present.
• Please watch your step when you are boarding and exiting the train; the platform and train stairs could be covered in freshly fallen snow or it could be slick from rain which has turned into ice. Use the handrail at all times!
• When you are on the train, please be aware that the floor of a coach could be wet from passengers boarding and exiting; this could create a slipping hazard.
  

Following basic safety rules is very important and we ask all passengers to board and exit trains carefully and responsibly. We need everyone’s cooperation to ensure both a safe and pleasant commute.

Most of the this list is just common sense, but I have to comment on the third bullet point. There is no reason why an entire train full of commuters should exit from 1 or 2 doors. At the most, there are three conductors on the train and they cannot monitor every door. This reminds me of the silent strike when they used to make us herd out of 1 door, that delayed train times by almost 20 minutes.