Wow, that was smart thinking....im impressed!!!
The only thing that could be a problem wiht this whole senario would be if no announements were made at Metropark until right when this was happening.....then dozens of poeple would have to make their trek all the way down stairs and up to the ohter side, and would cause a delay for that. But Metropark usually has pretty good annoucements, so I bet that they made the announcements with plenty of time, and that train made a "normal" station stop at Metro.
BTW, this is the reason for the track rules in effect at Metropark. West and East of Metropark, the outside tracks (1 and 4, A and 1 and B and 4 between Union and Elmora where there are six tracks) are signaled in one direction only (251) and the middle tracks 2, and 3 are 261, meaning signaled in both directions, EXCEPT between Menlo and Iselin interlockings (interlockings surrounding Metropark station). Between these two interlockings, interlocking rules are in effect, which means that you can go in any direction on any track, as long as the dispatcher tells you to and lines the switches and pulls the signals up. No form D's are required. This allows eastbound trains to make platform stops on the westbound platform and vice versa.
On the RR, "believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see"
John, aka "JTGSHU" passed away on August 26, 2013. We honor his memory and his devotion to railroading at railroad.net.