Many conducters that i know are complaing that they have to walk up and down sets of stairs to collect tickets and since many are older and heaver this is causing back problems. Look in future for a POP system on NJ Transit and MARC trains with these new cars.
a reason why gallery type double-deckers may be better.
A typical case of a company doing more work with less people. Increase a workers load. Increase the bottom line. That’s all they care about.
I’ve been trying to figure this out, but I can’t.
Gallery cars result in some of the passengers having to climb less, but surely the conductor has to negotiate the full height difference between low and high level repeatedly in a gallery car just as in a bilevel. Might even be more walking as you effectively have 3 separate aisles in a gallery (but it depends on the pattern that a conductor follows when he takes tickets, because his route may involve ‘backtracking’ to get back to ‘starting position’ and it’s about as easy to take the alternate route in a gallery upper level as ‘deadhead’ back down a car aisle).
There’s a little more involved with rising out of the gravity well low down, that isn’t practically recovered when descending, but I don’t think conductors notice. (It is very, very, very little) I would not have been really surprised, though, to find the subject broached during contract negotiations… [;)]
In a gallery car, the conductor walks only on the aisle on the main floor. The passengers on the two side galleries reach over the narrow side aisle and hand down their tickets or other proof of payment to the oonductor, who reaches up to receive and return them. The seat-checkclips on the backs of seats on the main floor are replaced by clips on the panels from the soffit over the main-floor seats to the gallery aisles above. Concuctors do not need to walk the gallery aisles.
I write from experience.
The problem with gallery cars is they have two and two or two and three (rare) seating below and only one and one seating above. So that is approximately a 25% loss in capacity, meaning that gallery cars at the most will seat just under 50% more than single-level while pure double-deckers just under 100% more.
You can tell I haven’t ridden in gallery cars now.
Thanks, Dave.
This link shows a gallery car interior: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Nippon_Sharyo_bi-level_passenger_car_interior_hallway.JPG. The conductor stays on the bottom and can see and reach all seats from the one level. A true bilevel car like NJ Transit uses has separate floors and the conductor has to walk both levels, in effect walking each car twice and going up or down a staircase at each end.
A number of the conductors I have seen over the years need the exercise.
Um, your statement already gives the main reason for this problem, and it’s not the double deck cars. It’s the fact that many conductors are older and heavier, aka overweight…the back problems have nothing to do with the double deck cars and more with the fitness of the conductors.
Ahh, the Northeast again…my favorite region to criticize outside of Southern California. You know Dallas Trinity Railway Express uses the honor system for paid tickets so the conductor only needs to randomly climb the steps if they feel like doing it at all (and most times they don’t). I can imagine if the honor system was tried in the Northeast how well that would work out with lost revenue. Also far easier to stand in the vestibule at the door and spot check.
The other thing is the conductors and operating crew are a lot younger in Dallas and don’t have the waistlines as conductors do in the Northeast because Dallas contracts from Herzog Rail Services. Plus we used the GO Transit tri-level car design which is more comfortable vs the gallery cars Chicago uses.
As a twice-daily gallery coach rider since 1980 (South Shore before that date), I have found them to be quite comfortable, both upstairs and downstairs, for the half-hour ride between home and work, even to the occasional sleeping past my stop.
My observation is that most commuters use monthly tickets or 10-ride tickets with only a handful of cash fares so ticket checks move rather quickly.
When I lived and worked in La Grange, Westmont, and Downers Grove, summer 1952 and 1967-1970, and spent most evenings in Chicago or Glencoe, I found the Burlington and Northwestern gallery cars comfortable. I liked them.
Some of these conducters date back to the Alco era
And how is this a problem?
Well, as one who is 84, and thus dates back to the GG1, EMD E-6, and NYC Hudson era, us older foikes don’t usually have quite the stamina that you Tier-4 youngsters may have. OK? But I do watch my avoudupois (Fr. Sp?). Still fit into a USA 32 wasteline and for the moment (at least) can keep my trousers from falling down with a belt without suspenders.
Dont remember the inside of GO train 1980s bilevel can someone pull that up please cant find it
The old LIRR double deckers had one isle, the conductors reach both up and down.
Gallery cars LOAD on the lower level, Eastern double deckers load at the mid level isle.
ROAR
If Passenger Conductors feel that double deck cars are too much work, they can go back and be a freight conductor - they will only climb on and off the locomotive when they walk their 9000 to 15000 foot trains (each way) when trouble happens. The will only have to set 10% or more hand brakes (depending on territory) when securing their train for a pick up or set off, of course to leave they will have to release the hand brakes they set.
Or they could get a job in the dispatch office. Walk 9 feet to the coffee machine and back.
Chicago Metra Conducters are quilified on there home Freight Road. while eastern conducters are quilified only on there passenger road. Twin Cities NorthStar BNSF and some LA runs use also freight quilified conducters.