According to the latest issue of Progressive Railroading–yup, real magazine–Metro-North has finished the overhaul of several River Town stations: Ardsley, Hastings, Dobbs Ferry and Irvington, including new elevators at the first three.
Next up for Metro-North are Ossining, Philipse Manor and Scarborough.
About those elevators…does anyone out there use them? While it’s great that they don’t double as bathrooms, as the city’s subway elevators do, I wonder if the (considerable) expense of elevator construction is justified–especially as the MTA scales back its budget for enhanced train service.
Are station elevators mandated by law for the handicapped? If the wheelchair-bound are using them, that’s great. If the ample-bodied…I mean able-bodied…are using them to avoid the rigors of the stairs, well, that seems a bit wasteful.
Anyone out there making good use of the station elevators?
“Progressive Railroading–yup, real magazine”
I’m sure you read it ‘just for the articles’.
Elevators are ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements whereby if any Federal money is involved in the station rehab, they must upgrade to ADA standards.
I hit send b4 finishing: Its a Federal Mandate that requires the upgrade/installation of elevators to these stations because 1)its a public facility and 2)there is probably federal money paying for the upgrades. It is soley to comply with ADA and not to just provide an easier way to get to another level.
When in operation, elevators are also regularly used by folks with kids in strollers.
On the NYC Subway, getting from the A train to the street in Penn Station requires that you take 3 separate elevators, if I recall correctly…oh, i can still smell it.
I had a layover in Portland, OR a while back, off the Empire Builder and waiting for the Coast Starlight. They have an elevator there to access the pedestrian overpass. Yup! Full of bum’s… er, “Homeless Persons” night clothes (newspapers) and their personal excrement. Guess the Feds can’t afford janitorial fees, but they have time to write mandates. I took the stairs.