Medellín experienced a traumatic morning this August 29. The beginning of the week was through water. Since dawn it rained in many neighborhoods of the capital of Antioquia. The streets were filled with puddles and the traffic became heavy and slow. And those who took the subway were not spared from the peculiarities of the morning.
Users complained that line A was too slow heading south. Daniel, a user who took line B and changed in San Antonio, said that he saw about four trains go north and, in that period, only one went south.
Through social networks, as usual, the company responded to user complaints. “Uncle subway, I love you but today I am on a subway that is so leeeeeeeeent that I don’t understand how it is that from Niquia to Prado it has taken me 40 minutes, is there anything new?” asked María José.
The company replied that the delays were due to the fact that the red button had been pressed several times, that is, the emergency one that should only be activated when something really important happens inside the wagons.
“We tell you that today there has been a high number of uses of red buttons, many of them unjustified, and this has affected the frequencies a bit. We appreciate your understanding,” responded the subway.
Greater responsibility when using the red button
Between January and May of this year, according to the metro, the red buttons were activated 6,000 times. Almost half of the time it was done without any justification, which has affected the provision of the service.
The metro explains how the mechanism works: “When the button is activated while the train is between two stations, a signal is sent to the driver’s dashboard that indicates in which car a possible emergency has occurred. Once this occurs, the personnel at the next station are notified so that they can proceed to verify the emergency. Until the device is deactivated by Metro personnel, the train cannot continue moving, so it is important to use it only in an emergency”.
Of the 6,000 cases mentioned, 2,455 were unjustified. Pressing the red button causes a three-minute delay, the metro has indicated. It is important to remember that the button must also be clicked to report a case of sexual harassment.