Greetings.

What is the purpose of the "open" buttons on the doors of the London
Underground carriages? On every Underground train I've used, the doors
open automatically at every station. Is/was there a time or place where
they don't open automatically and the buttons must be used?

Regards,
Tristan

--
_
_V.-o Tristan Miller [en,(fr,de,ia)] Space is limited
/ |`-' -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= In a haiku, so it's hard
(7_\\ http://www.nothingisreal.com/ To finish what you

On Thu, 3 Apr 2008, Tristan Miller wrote:

What is the purpose of the "open" buttons on the doors of the London
Underground carriages? On every Underground train I've used, the doors
open automatically at every station. Is/was there a time or place where
they don't open automatically and the buttons must be used?

Yes - the past. It used to be the case, AIUI, that the driver didn't open
all the doors when the train stopped at a station on the surface, at least
if it was cold and/or wet and not too busy. Then, you'd have to push the
button to open the door. However, this seems to have been too confusing
for passengers, and now all doors always open all the time (except when
they don't).

tom

--
Through the darkness of Future Past the magician longs to see.

On 3 Apr, 21:15, Tom Anderson wrote:
Yes - the past.

And the future. The air-conditioned S stock will have doors that
automatically close if the train stands in a station too long, to keep
the cold air in, and it'll have working door open buttons to get them
open again.

U

--
http://londonconnections.blogspot.com/
A blog about transport projects in London

On Thu, 3 Apr 2008 21:15:19 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

On Thu, 3 Apr 2008, Tristan Miller wrote:

What is the purpose of the "open" buttons on the doors of the London
Underground carriages? On every Underground train I've used, the doors
open automatically at every station. Is/was there a time or place where
they don't open automatically and the buttons must be used?

Yes - the past. It used to be the case, AIUI, that the driver didn't open
all the doors when the train stopped at a station on the surface, at least
if it was cold and/or wet and not too busy. Then, you'd have to push the
button to open the door. However, this seems to have been too confusing
for passengers, and now all doors always open all the time (except when
they don't).

I recall when I first came to London (Autumn 1997) the District line
trains had driver-controlled doors in the summer and
passenger-controlled doors in the winter. I don't recall how
summer/winter were differentiated; possibly by GMT/BST? In any case,
it only lasted a couple of years.

I have heard two possible explanations: one (as you stated) being that
passengers were confused; the other being that there were fears of
passengers using close-door buttons to close the doors on other
passengers.

"James Farrar" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 3 Apr 2008 21:15:19 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:


Yes - the past. It used to be the case, AIUI, that the driver didn't open
all the doors when the train stopped at a station on the surface, at least
if it was cold and/or wet and not too busy. Then, you'd have to push the
button to open the door. However, this seems to have been too confusing
for passengers, and now all doors always open all the time (except when
they don't).

I have heard two possible explanations: one (as you stated) being that
passengers were confused; the other being that there were fears of
passengers using close-door buttons to close the doors on other
passengers.

I have heard that the delay caused while pax (both on the train and
platform) realised that they had to open the doors themselves made it
impossible to keep to the timetable...

Paul S

On Apr 3, 9:50*pm, "Paul Scott"
wrote:
"James Farrar" wrote in message

...

On Thu, 3 Apr 2008 21:15:19 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

Yes - the past. It used to be the case, AIUI, that the driver didn't open
all the doors when the train stopped at a station on the surface, at least
if it was cold and/or wet and not too busy. Then, you'd have to push the
button to open the door. However, this seems to have been too confusing
for passengers, and now all doors always open all the time (except when
they don't).
I have heard two possible explanations: one (as you stated) being that
passengers were confused; the other being that there were fears of
passengers using close-door buttons to close the doors on other
passengers.

I have heard that the delay caused while pax (both on the train and
platform) realised that they had to open the doors themselves made it
impossible to keep to the timetable...


It was several years before operators on the Central Line learned how
to release the doors less than 30 seconds after the train had arrived
at a station.

Passengers who had already tried pressing the "open" buttons and found
them to do nothing, quite reasonably didn't notice when they were
eventually unlocked, adding yet more delay.

The same situation now exists on SWT 450s where passengers press the
button and nothing happens. Then the guard eventually releases then
and somebody eventually notices that the light is on and then presses
the button again. Still nothing happens, because the 450 doors are so
incredibly slow, so they press again and again while the doors are
opening.

For some reason the guards don't have the same problem in the 455s.

On 3 Apr, 22:11, MIG wrote:

For some reason the guards don't have the same problem in the 455s.- Hide quoted text -

Yes they do!! They now have to actually get out onto the platform
before putting the release up! So now passengers furiously stab at the
buttons wondering why the doors have not opened straight away like
they used to!! As well as that, the ex-508 TSO carriages need a longer
button press to get the doors open, so a 455/7, a guard doing it how
they want it and the great unwashed all equals....dismay!!

On Thu, 3 Apr 2008 15:04:34 -0700 (PDT), Standing at HN28 signal
wrote this gibberish:

On 3 Apr, 22:11, MIG wrote:

For some reason the guards don't have the same problem in the 455s.- Hide quoted text -

Yes they do!! They now have to actually get out onto the platform
before putting the release up! So now passengers furiously stab at the
buttons wondering why the doors have not opened straight away like
they used to!! As well as that, the ex-508 TSO carriages need a longer
button press to get the doors open, so a 455/7, a guard doing it how
they want it and the great unwashed all equals....dismay!!

More than once I've spent a tiring day going around London on the tube
and then done a journey, very late and very tired, on a mainline train
and when it arrived at my station I just stood there like a muppet
waiting for the doors to open, many seconds pass before I realise and
press the button.

some days the brain is in neutral at 1am...

--
Mark.
www.MarkVarleyPhoto.co.uk
www.TwistedPhotography.co.uk
www.TwistedArts.co.uk
www.BeautifulBondage.net

Mr Thant wrote:

The air-conditioned S stock will have doors that
automatically close if the train stands in a station too long, to keep
the cold air in, and it'll have working door open buttons to get them
open again.

Maybe they should have revolving doors on the trains.

I was once on a crush loaded tube train which pulled into a busy station,
but no-one wanted to board at our particular door, so the outside button was
not pushed. The people inside all had our backs crushed against the curved
door, and when we realised that the door wasn't opening, no-one could work
out where the door button was. Extra door buttons on the ceiling would solve
the problem, or sensors which automatically open [unlocked] doors if the
carriage is crowded.

Greetings.

In article , James Farrar
wrote:

On Thu, 3 Apr 2008 21:15:19 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

On Thu, 3 Apr 2008, Tristan Miller wrote:

What is the purpose of the "open" buttons on the doors of the London
Underground carriages? On every Underground train I've used, the doors
open automatically at every station. Is/was there a time or place
where they don't open automatically and the buttons must be used?

I have heard two possible explanations: one (as you stated) being that
passengers were confused; the other being that there were fears of
passengers using close-door buttons to close the doors on other
passengers.

Neither of these explanations seems particularly satisfying. I've used
plenty of public transport systems in Europe where it was necessary to
push a button (or even pull a handle!) to open the carriage door. Surely
if continental types can learn to push a button, then so can Londoners.
With respect to close-door buttons, that's not really germane to this
discussion, as we're talking about open-door buttons. I've never seen an
underground carriage with close-door buttons. On systems where there is
an open-door button, pushing it causes the door to remain open for some
fixed period of time, or until the train is about to leave the station.

Regards,
Tristan

--
_
_V.-o Tristan Miller [en,(fr,de,ia)] Space is limited
/ |`-' -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= In a haiku, so it's hard
(7_\\ http://www.nothingisreal.com/ To finish what you