Power outlets on Metro North

I noticed a few days ago that the seat nearest the door has a 2 outlet power outlet do these work at all?

yes the outlets work, but a lot of cars I walk through have the breakers turned off for them, or at least that's how it usually is on the new haven line trains. I'm not sure why anyone turns them off, but maybe with the gapping or for some other reason they don't want customers plugging laptops or any other electronics in that could get damaged with a power surge. That's my guess, but maybe someone knows for sure why they are turned off sometimes.

Many of the outlets on the M2s are in terrible shape. Missing covers, cracked fixtures and so on. I know that some of the circuit breakers are turned off so people will not plug in their laptops and other electronic items. The primative design of the power distribution on the M2s can cause damage to sensetive equipment when the line voltage is lost and it suddenly surges back on.

Also, those outlets are primarily for staff use when cleaning the cars, iirc. As everyone else is saying, I wouldn't plug anything you're not comforable with losing into it.

Iv'e gotten the outlets to work on the Bomber cars... those good o'le diesel trains

SubaruWRX wrote:I noticed a few days ago that the seat nearest the door has a 2 outlet power outlet do these work at all?

yes, they may work, but it's "plug in at your own risk" since the diesels operate in electric in the terminal and see the same power surges as the electrics . Computers are very vulnerable to spikes, therefore you may damage components if you decide to plug them into these outlets. As was stated earlier, they are primarily there for mechanical forces and cleaning the cars.

From the rules governing passenger conduct:
Customers are prohibited from using electrical outlets to operate radios,laptop computers or any kind of personal electronics except for battery powered wheelchairs.

That should answer the question

Don't powered wheelchairs have some type of circuit to control the chair?

i know they work and work good on the SLE cars and the crew has no problem with you useing them

kitn1mcc wrote:i know they work and work good on the SLE cars and the crew has no problem with you useing them

Well since the question was about Metro North, what is allowed on or ignored by the SLE crews is of little relevance.

SubaruWRX wrote:Don't powered wheelchairs have some type of circuit to control the chair?

They can use the outlets to charge the wheelchair batteries

If the outlets were for passangers they wouldn't be in hard to spot places like under seats or on walls behind seats.

I guess you do have a point

I have seen passengers plug in and sit in the seat across from the outlet. The conductors frown upon that. Nothing like a tripping hazard for some suit who has forgotten to power his/her cellphone.

Hi All,

You usually find 120 vac outlets in the rest rooms aboard the train. Normally used for electric razors etc.

Best piece of advice, that you can apply to almost any situation, including using outlets on Metro-North:

"JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN, DOESN'T MEAN YOU SHOULD."

You've been warned.

-otto-