Passenger Pusher

Introduction
Passenger pusher is a job/volunteer on a train platform, commonly seen in Asia countries especially Japan, who pushes passenger and other related things into a mass transport vehicle during rush hours or after service disruption.

People who usually do this are university volenteers and full time platform dispatchers. Conductors can join in the fun, too.

Responsibility
The job of passenger pusher is to assist passengers boarding an already overloaded train, to ease the congestions on a platform, and speed up the commuting process, especially when the train is above its maximum capacity. (See Capacity definition for details)

At the same time, they will need to corporate well with the conductor's timing and dispatchers' willing. An inexperienced pusher can cause quite a delay to the train.

New york city
NYC Subway conductors are known for shouting out "Step lively, ladies and gentlemen" to speed up the boarding process. dating back to the opening of the subway in 1904. "Step lively" was seen as an overly imperative phrase that "flusters the timid and uncertain and angers those who desire to be courteously treated". The New York Times advocated the use of "press forward" instead of "step lively" in 1908.

A quote from a widow describing her new york city railway experience, 1980:

"Why, from the moment of starting, I have been mauled and hauled about by the crowds, and every conductor yelled at me, 'Step lively, step lively, lady,' and some even caught hold of me and jerked me on the car and then pushed me into the struggling crowd of passengers inside. 'Step lively,' indeed!"

Nowadays, they hire platform controller to make sure everything goes in an orderly manner. But they do not involve in physical contact and pushing during shift.

Japan
Japan is famous for its overcrowding at rush hours, so mans are hired to specially assist passengers from boarding. They are called oshiya (押し屋), which translates to "man who pushes". They make sure all passengers are boarded and interlock lights goes off properly.

When pushers were first brought in at Shinjuku Station, they were called "passenger arrangement staff" (旅客整理係, ryokaku seiri gakari), and were largely made up of students working part-time; currently, station staff and/or part-time workers fill these roles during morning rush hours on many lines. During the run-up to the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, a special issue of LIFE magazine described a photograph by Brian Brake as showing "the Tokyo commuter trains where riders are squashed aboard by white-gloved official pushers." In 1975, oshiya packed commuters into rush-hour trains that were filled to an average of 221 percent of designed capacity.

China
China's rush hour can be unbearably annoying-Unorganized passengers screaming for help rushing into the train, forcing passengers who want to get off the train to stay on. The Beijing Subway has hired employees to help pack commuters onto train carriages since 2008. On the Shanghai Metro, trains running on Line 8 at up to 170% of capacity during peak hours in 2010 have used volunteers to help fill carriages.

Loss and injuries
Loss and injuries occur all the time. Debris of trash and fallen personal belongings can be found everywhere on the train after a dreadful rush hour. Some passenger may even suffer compression of skins, fracture, even death. Sometimes when people are dressed with summer clothing, sharp objects can injure passenger.

People may step on each other when unordered.

For the platform staffs, their belongings may fall into the gap, or lost on the floor. Most notebly their microphones, pens, watch, glasses, and dispatch lights.