The ticket machines on Metro-North’s New York-bound platform are quick and convenient.
According to one “06880” reader, they’re also a death trap.
She writes: “2 ticket machines are positioned so closely to the open track that if the line exceeds 2 people (as it often does), the 3rd person stands at the edge of the track. Quick purchase of a ticket is also impeded because sunshine obscures the screen.”
She proposes a “no-brainer” solution: moving the machines inside the waiting room.
Oh yeah — one more thing. Our safety-first writer says, “Directly adjacent to the ticket machines is a high-voltage pillar.”
All the more reason to have that 1st cup of coffee before you get to the station!
Metro-North cannot even keep up with the standard preventive maintainence practices let alone ensure that the trains run on time and safely. They cannot even address the continued crowding and proper seat availability… so moving that machine inside would be so far down” the line” the only way that it would move up in priority might be if someone were to get hit…God forbid! Anyway, regarding the high voltage pillar. I quite enjoy wetting both my hands and hanging on for a second or two…I have saved a ton of money on coffee and shock therapy treatments…kind of a two for one. Seriously….the pillar is grounded and insulators prevent any contact between the pillar and the wires. I am more concerned however by the stability of the rusting original infrastructure( that pillar included) that both AmTrak and MetroNorth seem to avoid maintaining for “budget” reasons.
I can see the day fast approaching when we will have more bridge failures and further degradation of track conditions will worsen. This is a life line for many and it is only going to get worse… Those are the issues we need to prioritize.
1. When there is more than one person on line, assemble parallel to the tracks, not perpendicular (seems people do this).
2. Screen the sunlight with yor hand, your bag, or other object.
3. “High voltage pillars” have been there since 1914. They carry the wires that provide electricity to propel the trains. No one has been injured or killed by them in 101 years. There is no danger posed by these “pillars” unless you climb them and shimmy over to the wires.
4. This is a prime example of how the US has become a nation of relentless complainers over the most trivial and solvable of perceived issues.
Thumbs up to Larry Meshow
Ditto!
Anyone who falls on the tracks because they don’t have the sense to line up to the right or the left would represent a proper thinning of the herd.
What he wrote! Ditto.
bravo Larry Meshow !
About those “High voltage pillars” – my friend Charles and I used to climb on them when we were kids. But we had sense enough to avoid the wires.
semi-brilliant…any other good ideas?
It is what it is.
Then again, maybe Donald should have a look at the problem?
I agree completely – the placement isn’t
well thought out. And we definitely need machines in the station. Anyone
who wants to buy a ticket will come to
the station first.
i am sure MetroNorth would be happy to place the machines inside the stations if you want to pay for it… Maybe they will even give you a plaque in public for your generosity!
LOL – plenty of cute/funny comments here on this topic!
And some good points too!
But, ticketing aside, our crumbling infrastructure IS very scary.
I recall thinking, quietly to myself, many MANY years ago, that the approach to, and entering into the tunnel system leading to Grand Central, felt like a disaster waiting to happen. Ancient feel, even back in the 1980’s, and when you really think about it, there’s “no where to run” if you’re trapped in that system, underground.
Anyone else get that sense of foreboding? I’m not a paranoid type, but do observe my surroundings. What was once a decent mode of travel, and a bit charming, now seems grossly neglected.
Well, I remember a big blackout in the late ’70’s (had to watch the Broadway play finish with production people holding flashlights), and then a night in a dark Grand Central, waiting for the power to come back on.
While I remember that foreboding tunnel into the station, I was so very happy to leave the place, later, in the early morning when the power came back on. I can still smell the ash and dirt from that time… Good memories!
Sometimes, a problem, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. I feel this is a case in point.
I’d would like the “clock” to tell me the time at the station instead of the date. Don’t they want us to know the train is late? mmm