Unlike the world of the multiple-unit (MU) cars in the early and mid 1970s, I seldom have the experience any longer of looking down to the platform -- or up to the coaches. With elevated platforms, windows are at knee height on the single-level Arrows or else at ankle-or-head height on the double deckers.
Either way, I lose the sensation both boarding in Summit or leaving at Penn Station of climbing up or descending down from the carriage.
Not every platform has been raised, of course. I recently boarded in Murray Hill and still enjoyed the ascension, albeit with no descent in Summit. And in Hoboken and Short Hills too.
But the clean sterility and seamlessness of the raised platform, which also allows for mid-car entrances and exits, reminds me of the ordered structure found in Singapore and Tokyo. Many obviously prefer that, but to me it detracts from the railway experience, taking away from the 19th century roots.
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