Emergency stop button proves fatal

Can someone kindly explain to me the point of an emergency stop button on a subway train please.

If for instance a fire was to break out on one the last place on earth I would want it to stop is in the middle of a long, dark and narrow tunnel miles from anywhere.

Likewise if some poor sod was to drop to the floor with a heart attack I'd want to get to the nearest platform as QUICKLY as possible not stop miles away from one.

Picture the scene...."Oh, whats that madam, you're having a heart attack?..... quick stop the train in the middle of this tunnel and we'll wait for the ambulance crew to climb down in the darkness with their torches to save you" !!

Surely it would make more sense to have an emergency "Go faster ya bastard and get me to the nearest platform pronto" button?

Underground Dilemas

I'm sure that I am not alone in thinking there's an inherent design flaw with the Glasgow Underground and that is........where the hell to look.

You see the problem with the Glasgow Underground is that the seats are positioned lengthwise down either side of the carriages and directly facing each other with little more than 1 metre of a gap down the central aisle.

The resultant effect is that when the carriage is full everyone is staring directly into the face of the person at arms length opposite them.

Now the seasoned underground traveller knows this and comes prepared with a paper or book to hide behind, however for the rest it only leaves 2 options:

1. Pretend to read the adverts in the banners above headheight.


2. Take a sudden interest in footwear and floorboards as you stare at the ground.

There is of course a third option which is to actually stare at the person opposite but the ramifications of this really put it out the game unless you want to be labelled as a crazy weirdo and have all the passengers point you out to the police as you disembark.

I personally favour the footwear and floorboards option after being caught out pretending to be avidly reading the adverts only to realise that every one was an advert for testing for sexually transmitted diseases.