The Holding Pen, Union Station

There was a day when MARC passengers could roam Union Station freely while waiting for their late and cancelled trains.

About a year or so ago, the horde of passengers began to surge. Two trains-worth of MARC passengers began to annoy the good folks at Union Station and so MARC "management" began herding us out of the way. First we were asked to wait in Gate B, or B and C, depending on how many trains were late.

Complying with this request was not easy. Conscientious passengers first encountered the retractable rope line, anchored to their 40-lb-pedestals blocking the entrance to Gate B. Not wanting to overtly defy a duly-placed rope line, MARC passengers snaked their way between and under the impediment.

Once past this hurdle the compliant passenger would have to force open one of the double, hydraulic-activated "automatic doors." These doors are not designed to be manually operated. There is no handle to use to safely push open the door. And there is no overriding the hydraulic piston to which the door is connected.

And the struggles of the MARC passengers were all fun entertainment to the Amtrak employees who seem like fixtures inside Gate B. Two or three of them would just sit there and watch passengers struggle with doors. Well I got tired of this real fast. I would not limbo my way past the rope line and I would not try to muscle open the doors. The first thing I would do is release the retractable rope. Then I would activate the doors with the switch that Amtrak employees apparently couldn't bother themselves with flicking.

Well, my subversive, fun-killing, activities were being monitored, it seems and it wasn't long before the good folks at Union Station were ready to pounce on me. An Amtrak employee jumped up (yes, jumped!) ran over to me and demanded that I close the doors, pointing menacingly with his walkie-talkie. I refused. The police were summoned. The policeman was amused but tried to accommodate the Union Station sting-leader.

After this run-in with the door police, I began noticing certain things about the holding pen. First the doors were one-way. You can push to get in, but not out. Also the doors leading out to the platform were also one-way but were also non-functioning automatic doors. The classic fire-trap. I referred to the holding pen as a fire-trap several times loudly during the meeting with the MARC managers. I suggested that at a minimum:

1. The doors need to be fitted with the standard push bar to assist in manual operation.
2. If the automatic doors are constantly broken they should be taken off their pistons and made to be easily operated.

These suggestions were noted but, hey, this is an old building, the MARC-on tried to give me a history of Union Station. We don't have any authority...we don't have any money...yadda.