Do Japanese trains still use "pushers"?

[Whack-a-Mole]

@jovan

Well, at the very least, I did. After working in Osaka and doing the push-yourself-in technique I linked to every morning, I instinctively tried to do it in the Montreal subway. To me, the car didn’t appear all that crowded and it was clear there was enough room to squeeze myself in. The other passengers didn’t think so, however, and I was unceremoniously pushed back out with a what the fuck are you trying to do kind of look.

I guess they do get in trouble.

My GF is a native New Yorker having spent her whole life there till moving to Chicago three years ago. I mentioned this thread to her while riding home earlier tonight but I did not mention the question you responded to. On her own she offered the following anecdote (heavily paraphrased but the essentials are right…my commentary in brackets as I understood her meaning):

*"I was riding home on the subway and the cars were packed [by our standards].

This little old [I got the sense “old” in this case was 50-60 and not grandma] Japanese woman forced her way onto the train and the doors closed. A few seconds later the doors re-opened and this big guy standing next to me shoved the lady out of the train, unceremoniously landing her on her ass on the platform.

The woman picked herself up, obviously shocked, and left [did not try to get back on the train]."
*

I asked my GF why she didn’t shove the big guy off. She said it occurred to her but, well, he was big and my GF is petite. She tried to glare at him in disapproval but he studiously ignored my GF and other passengers.

Guess it shows how people from different societies can clash while doing what seems normal to them.

[scr4]

@Mojo_Pin

Also, on one of the videos linked to above, you can see the people lining up to board, and the lines are all perfectly formed, perpendicular to the train and straight in two’s.

And the train station at the beginning of the line usually has markings for two sets of lines per door - the next train and the train after. If you’re near the front of the line for the 2nd train, you can usually get a seat. My mother does this all the time - the chance to sit down and take a 40-minute nap is well worth the extra 5 minutes of waiting.

[JpnDude]

@scr4

At one time they had trains with no seats during rush hours (the seats retract into the wall during rush hours), but I hear they are no longer in use.

Those train cars are still in use.

@scr4

Modern Japanese commuter trains have at least 4 doors on each side of each car; some have 5, and the aforementioned seat-less trains had 6 doors on each side.

The 6-door train car that you linked to is one that features the retractable seats.

[mnemosyne]

@hibernicus

One thing I’ve often seen happen in Japan (though the Japan-based dopers haven’t mentioned it here, so maybe it’s not as common as I think) is that people near the door temporarily step out onto the platform, to allow other passengers to exit. The people on the platform wait, not only to allow passengers to get out, but to allow the people who were already on the train to get back in, before they start boarding.

It strikes me as very civilised.

That’s pretty much what happens here in Montreal, in my experience. If there’s no room to simply squeeze out, the people by the door will step off and stand to the side, and people on the platform usually let them back on first. There aren’t really lineups on the platforms, though, and a lot of people will just cut ahead of others in order to get on. It annoys me deeply.

OTOH, we do line up for buses at bus stops, and I hear that isn’t all that common elsewhere.