A recent trip report made me think about the potential usefulness of this posting.
The doors on Métro trains do not have electric eyes to see if anybody is in the way. They just close--WHAM! When the trains are very crowded, especially in summer during the height of the tourist season, this can be very dangerous. Many times, I%26#39;ve seen travellers with bits of clothing stuck in the door, unable to free themselves until the next station. There are even little signs with a lovable cartoon rabbit instructing people to watch their fingers (note Metromole%26#39;s avatar).
But the biggest problem for tourists is the potential for people to become separated from one another because some did not make it onto the train. My recommendation if this should happen to you:
Every person traveling in a group should understand that if they become separated on the Métro, the best way to get back together is for those who actually made it onto the train to get off at the very next stop and wait on the platform. Those who did not make it onto the train should board the next train and get off again at the next stop where they will be reunited with the rest of the party. This can prevent a potentially quite unpleasant and fearful experience. Please note this technique will not work at La Fourche station, but most people wouldn%26#39;t be travelling through that station, anyway.
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Odd, but I have never thought of separation until I read that report. SO thanks, TRUFFANT for the suggestion. I did have a plan after the London underground bombings when we visited there last year but I just never transferred that plan to Paris. Yours is a workable one and I will tuck it into the travel notes portion of my brain.
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Truffaut... thanks for the post. This is especially of concenr when traveling with kids. We taught our kids the truffat method when they were wee tots.
AN ADDITIONAL precaution that we took when visitors here, was to put the Hotel Business card with our names and contact info into convention badge holders that our children would wear. This way if we ever did get seperated, someone could help them. Made our kids feel safer and more confident.
I thought that we were being paranoid, but my 12 year old just went to Venice with her class and the prof had all the kids do the same thing.
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Excellent point, Truffaut...there were a couple of times our small party (Myles, me, and our friend Nicole) feared we were going to get separated--we all held each other%26#39;s hands and kept a close eye on each other!
People should also know--though they%26#39;ll figure it out soon enough--that the doors don%26#39;t open automatically, either.
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We also taught our kids the truffaut method when they were little. Great advice. There%26#39;s another hazard that I%26#39;ve personally witnessed, getting fingers crushed in the gap that the door opens into (the actual hazard the bunny is warning against). The pneumatically operated doors are almost impossible to stop and will break bones if you get your fingers caught. I read somewhere that it happens every day on the Metro.
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Excellent post!!! One can never be too cautious.
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Related to this kind of situation: the same kind of separation can happen with elevators. If you are distracted, or for any reason you and your children are separated so that the elevator goes on with you while the kids are still standing in the hall (or the other way around), agree to stay on the elevator until it returns to the floor where the separation happened. Some kids probably have fun riding up and down in elevators but when you are traveling, they may not know what floor your room is on and they also may not know that the way the French number their floors is different from ours (1 is second floor, for example).
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This is all really good advice. Covers things I had never thought of before.
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I also think that you should not run to catch a metro. That%26#39;s when you often end up with stuff caught in the door. There is always an other metro coming 2 or 3 minutes later.
The other day a mom and son were running down stairs to catch a metro, son made it and mom stayed behind, The look on their face indicated that they probably did not have a plan B.
There is always a warning sound indicating that doors are closing.
Do not try to squeeze in at that moment. Better wait 2 or 3 minutes.
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If you dealing with adults only, those that are left behind could board the first or last car in the train set. Those that got off at the next stop to wait for the others would then know what car to board and rejoin their party without the need of waiting for yet a 3rd train.
Truffaut you are right, those doors are serious. I have seen many looks of pain as arms are smashed in them. I think its the french way of getting the train out of the station. If the doors closed gently then poeple would board and board and board and hold doors open until the world looked level. Long ago they actually had doors that closed off the entire platform as the metro car entered the station. The doors opened again once the metro car had departed. You can still see some of these doors here and there in the metro system. They dont work anymore but have not been removed.
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What you say about getting on the first or last car makes sense, Morgan, but I believe that if people do get separated, they would to first want to see their companion/s before getting on another train, even if it means waiting for a third train.
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