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Vancouver's automated system without platform doors has been in place since 1985, and as you mentioned, has worked quite well. The key benefit to not having do

Vancouver's automated system without platform doors has been in place since 1985, and as you mentioned, has worked quite well. The key benefit to not having doors is that you can use different train types and consists because the train doors don't have to line up with the platform doors. Platform doors also make future procurement of new trains potentially extremely expensive, because you're pretty much locked into buying a specific type of train.

gamblor956 7y ago
Or...you could just replace the doors/gates, which is far cheaper, easier, and generally years faster. The cost of replacing all of the doors in a single transit system would be equal to the cost of one or two trains worth of new cars. (They're very expensive.)
- bluGill 7y ago
  You can't mix/match then though. If you have a training running every 10 minutes and want to go to every 5 you may need to double the amount of trains you have. If there is nothing wrong with the existing trains (they are not wore out) it doesn't make sense to replace them all. Also it means you need to shut down the entire line for a month or so while you replace the doors in all the stations. Shutting down one station is easier to pull off without losing riders. If tell everyone you are remodeling for a month and here are the buses, your customers will adjust for that month (getting to the station a little early...), but if you shut down the entire line the system doesn't work for most riders and they buy a car and quit riding.
  - gamblor956 7y ago
    Your comment doesn't make any sense. Doubling the amount of trains don't change the trains themselves, unless you meant doubling the cars per train, which is a much bigger change that would usually require the reconstruction of the stations to handle the doubled length of the trains. That's a multi-year process per station. In contrast, if you just want to double the frequency of trains, you just need to double the number of running trains. Doors/gates have nothing to do with that.
    - bluGill 7y ago
      If you want to double the number of running trains you need to have double the number of trains. The new trains need to have the doors in the same place as the doors on the tracks, you might not be able to buy the same door configuration on new trains anymore. There are a couple of exceptions, but they are absurd and expensive so I doubt they apply. Maybe you bought too many trains in the first place and they are just sitting unused somewhere and you can use them. Or maybe you run the train, and then let it sit for a long time before turning it around and running again.

gamblor956 7y ago

Or...you could just replace the doors/gates, which is far cheaper, easier, and generally years faster. The cost of replacing all of the doors in a single transit system would be equal to the cost of one or two trains worth of new cars. (They're very expensive.)

bluGill 7y ago
You can't mix/match then though. If you have a training running every 10 minutes and want to go to every 5 you may need to double the amount of trains you have. If there is nothing wrong with the existing trains (they are not wore out) it doesn't make sense to replace them all. Also it means you need to shut down the entire line for a month or so while you replace the doors in all the stations. Shutting down one station is easier to pull off without losing riders. If tell everyone you are remodeling for a month and here are the buses, your customers will adjust for that month (getting to the station a little early...), but if you shut down the entire line the system doesn't work for most riders and they buy a car and quit riding.
- gamblor956 7y ago
  Your comment doesn't make any sense. Doubling the amount of trains don't change the trains themselves, unless you meant doubling the cars per train, which is a much bigger change that would usually require the reconstruction of the stations to handle the doubled length of the trains. That's a multi-year process per station. In contrast, if you just want to double the frequency of trains, you just need to double the number of running trains. Doors/gates have nothing to do with that.
  - bluGill 7y ago
    If you want to double the number of running trains you need to have double the number of trains. The new trains need to have the doors in the same place as the doors on the tracks, you might not be able to buy the same door configuration on new trains anymore. There are a couple of exceptions, but they are absurd and expensive so I doubt they apply. Maybe you bought too many trains in the first place and they are just sitting unused somewhere and you can use them. Or maybe you run the train, and then let it sit for a long time before turning it around and running again.