My train door broke on me this morning and now I'm rethinking everything

The sliding door on the 7:42 to Union Station just jammed halfway open at Addison Street, and me and 12 other people had to wedge it shut with our bags until we hit the next stop. It took 20 minutes for a conductor to show up and he just shrugged and said "they're all like that lately." Has anyone else had a door fail on them and did it make you switch to a different route or time?

3 comments

3 Comments

shanelee1mo ago

Man that sounds about right. The whole fleet is falling apart and they just keep patching things instead of fixing them properly. Few months back the door on my 5:18 out of Jefferson Park just slid open while we were moving. Some lady nearly fell out. Conductor didn't even apologize, just said "yeah that happens sometimes." I switched to taking the bus for a week but that was worse because of traffic. Now I just stand away from the doors and keep one hand on my bag strap in case I gotta brace myself. You should probably report it to the transit authority online. Not that it helps but at least there's a record. If enough people complain maybe they'll actually do something before someone gets hurt.

grace891mo ago

Oh man that is so scary! @jamesroberts I think you're onto something about the culture change, the whole vibe has gotten way too casual about safety stuff.

jamesroberts1mo ago

You mentioned the conductor said "yeah that happens sometimes" which really gets to me. Did you get the sense that kind of attitude is common with the newer crews or is it just a few bad apples? I've been riding these trains for over 15 years and it feels like the whole culture changed after they started outsourcing maintenance. The old timers would have at least apologized. I wonder if the people in charge even ride the trains themselves anymore.