I was faced with this proposition in Mumbai, India – when I witnessed a man alight from an overfull train on the wrong side

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(i.e. not the platform side, but the oncoming train tracks side). Seeing him perched (take a look at the photo) – one foot still in the carriage, one foot on the fence that separates the two opposing train tracks – didn't make me recoil in horror at the lack of OH&S in the local Mumbai train service. In fact, it made me smile.

Why? Well, the reason the man was able to alight on the wrong side of the train carriage in the first place was because there are no doors on local trains in Mumbai. No automatic, centrally controlled sliding doors. Not even any doors with handles that you have to manually open. Nothing between you and potentially imminent death by oncoming train. But also nothing between you and freedom if a train breaks down in between two stations…

Back in Sydney, Australia, I was one of those passengers caught in that train stuck between Milson's Point and Wynyard Stations for approximately 3 hours due to a power failure. Our train system, albeit not as technologically advanced as the super-efficient Hong Kong Metro for example, is still a bit more techno than the Mumbai metro, in that it does have centrally controlled automatic doors. And yes, most of the time these are a good idea.

But what the three hour halt did make me notice is that there is no emergency button or other way of opening the train doors in case something happens to the driver or train guards and they aren't able to open them for us. After being stuck on the train for two hours – with no lights, air con and no information from Cityrail  as to why we had stopped, many passengers naturally started to get edgy and tried to look for an "emergency escape" button to open the doors and at least get some air in, if not escape. We even tried calling the emergency number located by the doors in the carriage – unfortunately no one was available to take our call. So, say in the case of a fire, or the driver gets ill – it appears we are doomed to die in the carriage because no one can control those high tech doors besides those guys in blue.

So, back to crazy Mumbai – where trains are packed with more than 500 people (500 was the statistic about four years ago) per carriage, so people barely have enough room to move to the space where the door should be to get off the train. How long do you think the Mumbai locals would have stayed on a train if it halted between stations and no one communicated to them what the problem was? I would say about 10 minutes – after which they would have jumped through that door-less space to freedom.

Which is what I wished I could have done back on the Harbour Bridge that fateful peak hour train ride home. But all jokes aside – it seems that while we have the technology here in Sydney, what we are clearly lacking is a contingency plan for emergencies such as these. So Cityrail: either get rid of your doors or get a cohesive, logical and efficient way for passengers to alight a train in emergency situations!