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TTC: Automatic Train Control and Subway Platform Screen Doors

What are the benefits of stopping airflow, other than not losing your hat?

Dirt is a big one. Much of the station cleaning would not be necessary if train brake dust and fine particulate dirt sucked down from street level didn't get into the station areas. This became important a few years back with the combination of cleanliness becoming a major issue combined with high priced cleaning staff.

Warmth/cool air. Even if stations are not heated/cooled, it prevents the air from the units on the trains from being sucked out of the platform. Over time, trains would heat/cool the platforms sufficiently.

Aren't one of the engineering challenges associated with platform screen doors that they stop airflows? I remember reading that station ventilation systems will need to be redesigned if we installed screen doors.
 
TTM:

I wouldn't be surprised - most of the vent shafts are currently outside of the platform area abutting the tracks, which probably uses the trains acting pistons for airflow within the stations. Seal off the track area, and you might be dealing with ventilation issues.

I think the newer stations are built with mechanical rooms with air handling units - I don't recall the older ones at BD and YUS having the same feature. In any case, this issue can be mitigated by using half-height barriers at stations without such.

AoD
 
TTM:

I wouldn't be surprised - most of the vent shafts are currently outside of the platform area abutting the tracks, which probably uses the trains acting pistons for airflow within the stations. Seal off the track area, and you might be dealing with ventilation issues.

I think the newer stations are built with mechanical rooms with air handling units - I don't recall the older ones at BD and YUS having the same feature. In any case, this issue can be mitigated by using half-height barriers at stations without such.

AoD

Aren't there ventilation shafts all the way along the tunnelled sections of the subway. I don't imagine it would be too much of an issue. It may cause issues with regards to air drag and power consumption, mind you, i'm not an engineer.

To be honest in 2008 when this was brought up I didn't think it was that big of a necessity, but nowadays if you're standing on a majority of the downtown subway platforms at peak hour it's hard not to get a little nervous as the train comes along (due to all the pushing and people on the platforms).
 
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BMO:

I already mentioned the possibility of using half-height barriers in my post - and for all intents and purposes it might be the best solution for old stations that are simply not designed to be sealed in. I do think that we are at a point where barriers are warranted - not so much so in their promise of it increasing train frequency but the improvement to reliability during rush hour (by limiting disruptions).

Now if we can only do something about passenger assistance alarms...

AoD
 
well we will be dropping a staff member off of every train once ATC comes online. they will really be "driverless", the employee on the train will only be handling door closures.
 
Driverless Subway trains? Not in nervous Toronto, TTC head saysl

Can't copy the article, but it essentially talks about how the TTC needs platform doors, battle the union and battle the social stigma of having driverless trains.

So if I'm understanding correctly, we're moving towards single operator, but they will be both driving and operating the doors? We're installing ATC but not using automated driving? I thought the benefit of ATC was automated driving so that the trains could run at higher frequencies?
 
So if I'm understanding correctly, we're moving towards single operator, but they will be both driving and operating the doors? We're installing ATC but not using automated driving? I thought the benefit of ATC was automated driving so that the trains could run at higher frequencies?

One will be working the platform giving help and directions, is what I got from the article. These drivers will likely have to be taken out of employment through attrition.
 
Mr. Byford's commends left me with the impression that there'd be a human driver handling both door operations and moving the vehicle.

I also found his comments about screen doors interesting. He claims that we need screen door for ATC operation. Most of the ATC operations I've seen around the world work fine without screen doors.
 
Mr. Byford's commends left me with the impression that there'd be a human driver handling both door operations and moving the vehicle.

Without changes to the union agreement; yes. We're trying to get that down to just the driver. Miller had them on-board with that change but they've become less cooperative with Ford in charge.

I also found his comments about screen doors interesting. He claims that we need screen door for ATC operation. Most of the ATC operations I've seen around the world work fine without screen doors.

No. He claims we need screen doors to eliminate all staff from the train. ATC is mostly an efficiency improvement (run more trains).

Going staffless works but depends a lot on the insurance company underwriting injury lawsuits giving decent rates. Lawsuits from computer control where the company purposefully removed oversight can be costly. ATC the TTC is installing, as far as I know, does not include obstruction detection (I.e. person or object on the tracks).

Also, some days ATC will fail to work as we'll want drivers available as backup. It's cheaper to employ 100 full time drivers who normally don't do much than to have a single day full subway outage per year.
 
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If ATC is installed but there are still human drivers, do we still get any improvement to frequencies?

Yes. It's like using auto-pilot on an aircraft while the pilots are still in the cockpit. The human is for rare emergencies, general oversight, and to handle on-the-fly changes.
 
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