WASHINGTON – There are calls for Metro to leave train doors open longer at crowded platforms and to make clearer how to use emergency call boxes on trains.

“A lot of the disability community – because station platforms are getting more crowded – have had difficulty in boarding the trains, [and] getting enough time to figure out where the doors are,”Patrick Sheehan,  chairman of Metro’s Accessibility Advisory Committee, told the Metro Board on Thursday.

“We would like to see the trains stay in the stations with the doors open for at least ten seconds. That would allow people to get off the trains, allow people to get on the trains without having to rush forward,” he said.

Sheehan joins other riders who have expressed concerns about getting shut out of trains at rush hour. Sheehan also brought up concerns over how closely riders need to look at emergency call boxes on train cars to figure out whether it is the type that a rider must push and hold to talk.

“Depending upon which rail car you are in, sometimes you hold and speak to the driver if there’s an emergency, sometimes you let go of the button, there’s no standard way to report an emergency back to the train operator,” he said.

He said he would like to see better signage to clear things up.

Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld told the board he would look into the situation, and report back soon.