Closed Door Policy

Much like an airplane, I don't see why a NJ Transit trains don't have a specific time prior to the departure time that the doors would close, especially when there always seems to be door issues. I can go to bed at night and still hear the echoing engineer's words spewing over the IC about an end door light.

We've all sat helpless as the conductor races up and down aisles looking for a door that's ajar, sometimes for over 5 minutes.

I've been on Hoboken trains where all of the doors are open as it traveled and there wasn’t an issue. It's not like the train can't move with a door open. I’m sure that NJT would fall back on it’s a safety thing as well as blame passengers for causing door issues by holding them open but that’s a farce. The door issues are a result of spotty equipment and poor maintenance, pure and simple. Rarely if ever, is there an idiot holding the doors open. In the few and far between cases where someone does hold the door open it’s totally unjustifiable. However, it’s probably because the train was already late for whatever reason and now a ton of people are spewing onto the train all at once.

It's just a small step in the process of efficiency to have everyone on board and the doors closed when it's time to leave Penn Station!