When you are riding on elevated mass transit it is usually more comforting when the train doors are closed as riders in Vancouver discovered recently.

SkyTrain runs with doors open

SkyTrain passengers had a wild ride Saturday when their train left New Westminster station with its doors still open.

Alarmed passengers huddled away from three sets of open doors, through which cars could be seen below on Stewardson Way as the train sped to 22nd Street station.

One passenger posted a camera phone video on YouTube and others described the incident as “crazy” and “horrifying.”

TransLink officials say security video shows one set of doors were forced open by a passenger at the platform.

That would normally have triggered an alarm and prevented the train from leaving.

Amtrak says “take pictures”, “no don’t!”

Amtrak photo contestant arrested by Amtrak police in NYC’s Penn Station

Armed with his Canon 5D and his new Lensbaby lens, photographer Duane Kerzic set out to win Amtrak’s annual photo contest this week, hoping to win $1,000 in travel vouchers and have his photo published in Amtrak’s annual calendar.

He ended up getting arrested by Amtrak police; handcuffed to a wall in a holding cell inside New York City’s Penn Station, accused of criminal trespass.

Kerzic says he was hardly trespassing because he was taking photos from the train platform; the same one used by thousands of commuters everyday to step on and off the train.

“They never asked me to leave, they never mentioned anything about trespassing until after I was handcuffed in the holding cell.”

In fact, he said, the only thing they told him before handcuffing him was that “it was illegal to take photos of the trains.”

Airlines continue to look for ways to say money and additional weight means more fuel which means more money. So it should be no surprise that an airline started to look at the weight of its own employees.

Air India fires ‘exceptionally overweight’ attendants

Air India has fired ten of its flight attendants for being “exceptionally overweight,” an airline spokesman confirms to Reuters this morning. The Times of London writes “the state-owned carrier handed the staff their papers over Christmas after they failed to slim down to meet company weight restrictions, which are calculated according to height and age. The cabin crew members had been grounded for months after losing a landmark legal battle in June.”

The fired attendants were offered alternate ground jobs, which they initially refused, according to various media reports. AFP writes the “Delhi High Court last year upheld Air India’s right to reassign overweight attendants, citing clauses in their contracts that barred them from flight duties if they put on too much weight. The court had noted that the state-run airline needed fit attendants to compete with private rivals in India’s fiercely competitive aviation market.”

An Air India official tells the BBC that the dismissed flight attendants were between 24 and 70 pounds heavier than the carrier’s prerequisites. The Telegraph of Kolkata says Air India’s “rules prescribe different weight limits according to the height and age of the air hostesses. For an 18-year-old air hostess with a height of (about 5 feet), the maximum weight permissible is (110 pounds), while for air hostesses between 26 and 30 years and a height of (about 5 feet), the weight limit is (123 pounds).”

This is the follow-up from the “9 Muslim passengers kicked off flight after remark” story I referred to last week. Someone in AirTran’s management must have been pounding his head on the desk when her heard what happened.

Airline apologizes to 9 Muslims kicked off flight

AirTran Airways apologized Friday to nine Muslims kicked off a New Year’s Day flight to Florida after other passengers reported hearing a suspicious remark about airplane security.

Orlando, Fla.-based AirTran said in a statement that it refunded the passengers’ air fare and planned to reimburse them for replacement tickets they bought on US Airways. AirTran also offered to take the passengers back to Washington free of charge.

In a positive story coming our of Iraq, the country has taken a step back towards normal life. I for one am not yet booking my next vacation to the green zone.

Baghdad airport welcomes first European passenger flight in 18 years

18 years after the United Nations imposed a ban on all commercial air traffic destined for Iraq, a Swedish charter plane has landed at Baghdad International Airport.

The charter was operated by Nordic Leisure and their 150 passengers were mostly Iraqis.

Other travel posts I liked this week:

• How to Negotiate Airline Change Fees
• Woman gives birth at London tube station
• Internet telephone for travellers
• Delta Queen nominated as endangered historic site

There is some controversy surrounding a yacht that Iraq claims was constructed for Saddam Hussein and wants returned to the country. The current owners are trying to sell the ship for $35 million dollars. If you are in the market, this could easily make a good lair for the next Bond super villain.

According to an account in the French daily Le Figaro, corroborated by Amir-Aslani, the Ocean Breeze, made for a 35-member crew, has about 10 rooms, several salons with large-screen TVs, pools, saunas, gold plumbing fixtures, a prayer room and a portable helicopter pad.

Less glamorous but more telling of Saddam’s real-world concerns are the bulletproof windows, a missile-launching system — disarmed — and a secret passage leading to a mini-submarine for escape if the vessel comes under attack. It was unclear whether the mini-submarine is still part of the yacht, but the Le Figaro account implied that it is.

Saddam’s other yacht is not commanding as high a sales price.

I received an email from Robin Sparks, a friend, travel writer and ex-pat who lives in Istanbul. She gave me permission to share this story.

Here’s a small piece from this corner of the world:

Robin