Trains departing with doors wide open

[StephenHunter]

Just watched a movie (The Aftermath), which features a scene where a train departs a station with a passenger door wide open, a character boarding as it pulls out.

Was this sort of thing, which seems very unsafe, common in real life? It happens a lot in movies.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Where's the film supposedly based?

Have often seen trains operating with open doorways in places like India.

 

[Meole]

I recall some electric stock up north that had old sliding doors that rolled back and forth never actually closing.

 

[Bevan Price]

It used to be fairly common in summer in parts of mainland Europe where coaches had doors that opened inwards.

 

[Killingworth]

I recall some electric stock up north that had old sliding doors that rolled back and forth never actually closing.

The North Tyneside 1937 electric stock had sliding doors, although my memory from the 1960s is of them being open because they were too stiff to be easily closed.

 

[Alfonso]

Was this sort of thing, which seems very unsafe, common in RL? It happens a lot in movies.

Lots of European stock had (maybe still has) doors that close automatically when then train reached a few km/h (5? 10?)

 

[pdeaves]

In the days before central door locking, it was fairly common for fast runners to open and board the train. The reverse, but less common, to all the commuters flinging the doors open and leaping out before the train stopped at the important terminus.

As an aside, I remember reading of some professional athlete diving head first through a window (open, of course!) of a departing HST.

 

[StephenHunter]

Where's the film supposedly based?

Have often seen trains operating with open doorways in places like India.

Germany, 1945.

 

[hexagon789]

Some of the older Paris Metro stock in service has doors which can be released before the train has come completely to a halt.

 

[Gloster]

As far as I can remember, some of the French suburban stock had sliding-doors that would close automatically once the train had reached a certain speed. However, the rams weren’t very powerful and if you held the doors open while the train continued to accelerate, they would cease to push before long and the doors would stay open. Enough to give any H&S official nightmares, but very welcome on a hot August day.

 

[Beebman]

Back in the late 90s on an August day with temperatures around 35C, I remember travelling out of Berlin on a Dresden-bound IC service which for a couple of minutes ran parallel to an old S-Bahn unit with most of the manual sliding doors wide open and the passengers enjoying the breeze.

 

[D6130]

I recall some electric stock up north that had old sliding doors that rolled back and forth never actually closing.

Sounds like the old Lancaster-Morecambe-Heysham EMUs.

 

[RSimons]

I remember in the 60s, catching a train at Middlewood station. I opened the door before the train stopped, jumped on and the train started off again without actually stopping. It was certainly quite usual for people to open the doors while the train was going at walking pace.
I also have memories of a departing train’s door being held open by a member of staff for a running passenger at Manchester London Road, as it was then but I don’t otherwise recall ever seeing a train with the door wide open.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Happened in Switzerland quite often until some recent-ish modifications (last 10 years), because the downright dangerous dispatch procedure did not include a positive check they were closed and not obstructed. The procedure was that the guard blew the whistle, gave the RA via a platform box (which if I recall acted with a 10 second delay) then reboarded and only then turned the key.

Still very common in less H&S oriented countries such as India, Thailand etc, and some Eastern European regional services.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Jan 2022 ==

I remember in the 60s, catching a train at Middlewood station. I opened the door before the train stopped, jumped on and the train started off again without actually stopping. It was certainly quite usual for people to open the doors while the train was going at walking pace.
I also have memories of a departing train’s door being held open by a member of staff for a running passenger at Manchester London Road, as it was then but I don’t otherwise recall ever seeing a train with the door wide open.

Will have been rarer in the UK as an open door was out of gauge and so could clout stuff, on the mainland it generally would not be so and so it was only a falling out issue.

 

[stuu]

Some of the older Paris Metro stock in service has doors which can be released before the train has come completely to a halt.

The C stock on the Circle line used to be like that, some drivers would start opening the doors just before the train had stopped

 

[contrex]

As far as I can remember, some of the French suburban stock had sliding-doors that would close automatically once the train had reached a certain speed. However, the rams weren’t very powerful and if you held the doors open while the train continued to accelerate, they would cease to push before long and the doors would stay open. Enough to give any H&S official nightmares, but very welcome on a hot August day.

In the 1990s when I used to go to Nice on holiday the stoppers on the Marseille to Ventimiglia line were operated by loco hauled rakes of RIO (Rame Inox Omnibus) stock, RIO 82 mainly. People sometimes used to force the doors open as you describe. They used to be absolutely rammed at weekday peak times and I once saw a set speeding along between Villefranche-sur-Mer and Nice with a pair of doors completely open and the crowd of people standing inside looking like they might spill out at any moment. The outermost folks seemed to be holding on to each other. It gave me the willies. I don't know if it was done for ventilation or if the crowd prevented closure.

 

[Pigeon]

We've already had the thread about "Thorpe Station at Norwich is a terminus." Well, if you read a few more pages...

 

[exbrel]

i did it a few times back in the early 60's, our station had a level crossing with a revolving wicket gate, which the signalman unlocked when the barriers were lifted, so with the train in the station, we were waiting at the gate. If he was abit slow opening it, by the time we were up onto the platform, the train was starting chugging off, so we still had a chance...

 

[Bletchleyite]

The C stock on the Circle line used to be like that, some drivers would start opening the doors just before the train had stopped

Common practice on Merseyrail in the 80s.

 

[Falcon1200]

In the 70s I was on one of the odd morning peak Oxford-Paddington trains which called at a number of stations, but not Reading. A man asked me, as we departed Oxford, if we stopped at Reading, I told him no but before I could add 'stay on board and change at Didcot', he opened a door and jumped from the moving train.

 

[365 Networker]

Common practice on Merseyrail in the 80s.

That still happens on the Bakerloo line:-

Skip to 3:40.
I have seen doors open even earlier on other videos.

 

[WesternLancer]

Germany, 1945.

Possibly rather low down on the list of H&S risks people had to face at that location / date , before or indeed after May 1945

 

[davetheguard]

Some of the older Paris Metro stock in service has doors which can be released before the train has come completely to a halt.

As could the class 313 EMUs when they were brand new; I remember being able to do it, much to my surprise, arriving at Moorgate on my first ever trip on one. I don't think it was very long before they were modified in some way to stop it being possible.

 

[hexagon789]

As could the class 313 EMUs when they were brand new; I remember being able to do it, much to my surprise, arriving at Moorgate on my first ever trip on one. I don't think it was very long before they were modified in some way to stop it being possible.

Weren't they modified to remove the passenger door control facility, making it full crew-only control of the doors rather than crew release/passenger open?

 

[john77]

In the late 80's I was on an afternoon train from Glasgow to Fort William, I think in September. It was a loco hauled train, I think with compartment carriages. I looked out of a window as we left a station, possibly Tyndrum Upper, and noticed a wide open door on the next carriage down. I walked down to it, leaned out to grab it, and pulled it closed. Nobody else saw it as far as I can tell. I presume it would have struck some sort of lineside obstacle eventually if left open.

 

[D6130]

In the late 80's I was on an afternoon train from Glasgow to Fort William, I think in September. It was a loco hauled train, I think with compartment carriages. I looked out of a window as we left a station, possibly Tyndrum Upper, and noticed a wide open door on the next carriage down. I walked down to it, leaned out to grab it, and pulled it closed. Nobody else saw it as far as I can tell. I presume it would have struck some sort of lineside obstacle eventually if left open.

Very dangerous! I would have pulled the passcom, reported it to the guard and then let him/her close it once the train had come to a stand. There's always the chance that someone may have fallen/jumped out of the train.

 

[WesternLancer]

Very dangerous! I would have pulled the passcom, reported it to the guard and then let him/her close it once the train had come to a stand. There's always the chance that someone may have fallen/jumped out of the train.

Given the location I would say that it could be a scene from the 39 steps!

 

[Strathclyder]

Martin Loader (hondawanderer) has a image of a Class 423 4-VEP at New Malden dating from March 1995 with one of the doors of the leading vehicle swinging wide open. Whether anyone actually fell out and/or if it simply wasn't shut properly and the door ended up opening as the unit picked up speed isn't known, it's certainly a stark illustration of the weaknesses of slam-door stock.

3426 New Malden 4 March 1995

 

[contrex]

it's certainly a stark illustration of the weaknesses of slam-door stock.

'Open door collisions' used to be a thing. The most destructive type was if both trains had an open door and they met. The unit notes at Blood and Custard have a number of reports - e.g. this one, only one door involved -

Beckenham Junction – Shortlands 16th January 1961

9.0am Maidstone East – Holborn Viaduct hit by open door on passing 9.30am Victoria – Dover Boat Train. 2 HAP units 6104 moderate damage, unit 6061 minor damage. Unit 6104 to Selhurst for repairs and varnish, 6061 repaired at Stewarts Lane.

 

[D6130]

A friend and I were involved in a similar incident in Scotland during the early part of 1983. It was on a Sunday morning when trains from Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh and the North were being diverted via Cumbernauld and we were travelling in the leading vehicle (Mark 1 TSO no. SC4903) of the 09 35 Glasgow-Aberdeen. A couple of miles past Cumbernauld, we passed a Mark 2f/3 Edinburgh-Glasgow push-pull service and there was the most almighty crashing sound, accompanied by glass flying everywhere. A very large and heavy open mark 3 door had hit the side of our carriage. We were the only passengers in that vehicle, sitting on the right hand side, and were extremely fortunate in that the open door, smashed the first two windows - and their aluminium frames - before flying back against its own carriage as it passed the third and fourth windows where we were sitting. It then returned for another bash, taking out windows 5 to 8 and causing considerably damage to the second vehicle - a mark 2 BFK - before being wrenched off its hinges and falling into the six foot. On coming to an emergency stop, the guard examined the damage, transferred us to the third coach and locked-up the two affected vehicles, which had also had all their off-side door handles taken off as well as bodywork and window damage. On arrival at Stirling about half an hour late, where we were alighting, the two damaged vehicles were removed to a siding and the train continued about 40 late.