The 3:25 a.m. Amtrak Northeast Regional 67 to Virginia Beach pulled out of Penn Station on time this morning, but at least one set of car doors decided to break protocol and remain ajar while the commuter train sped through the Hudson River tunnel.
Zayne Savall, 27, took the early-morning 67 to Fredricksburg this morning for a business meeting, and says that he came across the partially-open doors in the vestibule between the second and third train cars. "I stood there for about three minutes before the train conductor got there," he told us this morning, adding that there were about eight inches of clearance between the train and the tunnel wall, and that the doors were jammed about a quarter of the way open—wide enough for a person to fall through.
Savall said that he was standing there "in awe," taking pictures, when he noticed the conductor coming along the car to collect tickets. The conductor promised to "take care of it," and had Savall and two other passengers in the vestibule return to their seats before he moved to close the doors. The problem was fixed by the time Savall passed back through the vestibule, about 45 minutes into the trip.
"I ride Amtrak a lot and this is by far the craziest shit I've seen happen," Savall said this afternoon. "If an elderly person had passed through they could have been blown down."
The NY Times reported on a similar incident in 2011, clarifying that a red emergency light is supposed to go on when a door isn't shut correctly, alerting the crew. Savall said that he didn't notice a red light over the doors on Friday morning.
Reached for comment, Amtrak spokesman Craig Schulz said that his office was looking into the details of the incident, and that the allegedly-rogue doors offer an opportunity to remind passengers to stay out of the vestibules "whenever possible."
"Generally speaking,"he added, "the proper protocol is for the doors to remain closed while the train is in motion."
