From: ahk@chinet.com   
      
   Stephen Sprunk  wrote:   
      
   >BBD bilevel cars (i.e. nearly all commuter trains outside the Rust Belt)   
   >have a built-in, full-width step below the door at half the height   
   >difference; no step boxes are required.  Why Amtrak LD trains don't have   
   >such (which would remove the need for those step boxes--and a dozen or   
   >so crew members per train) is mystifying.   
      
   This was an innovation from streetcars. The reason folding stepwells are   
   impractical is what you just wrote: Rust. You could have them in California.   
      
   Now, I'd just put up with the maintenance tasks, but you know that   
   maintenance is anathema to passenger service.   
      
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