Height of Platforms...or trains.

[thirdriding]

Something I've noticed, most recently at Meadowhall (Sheffield) Station. I was sitting on a train and there was a train on the opposite platform and the passengers must have been about 12-18 inches higher than me. Is this unusual to have such variation...and what are the implications for bridges and overhead wires etc?

 

[superalbs]

If it was a Pacer, I think they have higher passenger saloons than other trains.

 

[rdeez]

Can't remember which platform, but I recall noticing a few times at Wolverhampton that one track (and platform) is noticeably higher (or lower? details are fuzzy) than the others.

 

[Philip Phlopp]

Something I've noticed, most recently at Meadowhall (Sheffield) Station. I was sitting on a train and there was a train on the opposite platform and the passengers must have been about 12-18 inches higher than me. Is this unusual to have such variation...and what are the implications for bridges and overhead wires etc?

Overhead wire height is dictated by track height and geometry, Series 1 kit has constant wire height (no reduced height under bridges or increased height at level crossings) whilst older kit and Series 2 has variable wire height under/over structures.

You (very basically) get the track height data, work out where the contact wire and catenary wire needs to be in relation to the track and set up your cantilever structures and registration arms accordingly.

 

[furnessvale]

Something I've noticed, most recently at Meadowhall (Sheffield) Station. I was sitting on a train and there was a train on the opposite platform and the passengers must have been about 12-18 inches higher than me. Is this unusual to have such variation...and what are the implications for bridges and overhead wires etc?

Is the track curved by any chance? Superelevation (cant) can make quite a difference to the apparent height of a coach on the adjacent track.

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

Platforms 3&4 are on a sharp bend and curved.
Pacers are taller like said above aswell.

 

[CheesyChips]

Can't remember which platform, but I recall noticing a few times at Wolverhampton that one track (and platform) is noticeably higher (or lower? details are fuzzy) than the others.

Platform 4 is quite a bit higher than 3 in my recollection

 

[DarloRich]

Is the track canted in any way?

 

[plastictaffy]

Slightly off-thread - but has anyone ever alighted at Wolverton on the up slow? A parachute should be issued for it!!

 

[Pinza-C55]

When I visited Arram station on the Hull - Scarborough line in 1978 it had very low platforms and a set of steps for the few passengers wishing to board or alight from a train.


Arram Station (1) 17.12.1978 par PinzaC55, on ipernity

Apart from tactile edging and a huge waiting shelter for those crowds of happy villagers it is still the same, with a set of steps in exactly the same place !

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arram_railway_station#/media/File:ArramRailwayStation.jpg

 

[furnessvale]

Looks like a candidate for a Harrington Hump.

 

[gazthomas]

Looking at a current picture of Arram station they definitely still need a hump as they're still using steps as a previous poster says!

 

[jopsuk]

I was a bit surprised when the new platforms at Cambridge (7 & 8) opened that there was a step up to new stock (Class 379s). I get that platforms that have services pass through at speed need a gap to allow for sway, and that platforms that are curved can't be gapless, but a platform that never has through trains, approached from either end at low speed, that's straight and level, should surely be able to be near-gapless with 2.8m wide stock?

 

[Pinza-C55]

Kirkby Stephen 1998


Kirkby Stephen Station 156421 1998 par PinzaC55, on ipernity

 

[Chrisyd]

The Grade II listed lower end of Bromley Cross station still has a low level platform, although all trains stop further along the platform so as to not have to alight to this.

You can see the rise on the bottom photo on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromley_Cross_railway_station

 

[Joseph_Locke]

I was a bit surprised when the new platforms at Cambridge (7 & 8) opened that there was a step up to new stock (Class 379s). I get that platforms that have services pass through at speed need a gap to allow for sway, and that platforms that are curved can't be gapless, but a platform that never has through trains, approached from either end at low speed, that's straight and level, should surely be able to be near-gapless with 2.8m wide stock?

Cambridge 7 & 8 are pretty much perfect to the standard platform offsets of 745mm lateral* / 915mm vertical - its the train builders who can't build trains to a standard size. We (the railway) had to go and move the track and platforms for the 158s, and again for the Eurostars and Class 153 (technically) aren't clear to a standard platform anyway ...

*was 730mm, then 760mm briefly, now 745mm for straight track.

 

[edwin_m]

Most multiple units have a floor height of about 1100mm above top of rail though some such as Voyagers are much higher. But a platform at this height would foul passing freight trains unless it was set so far back from the train that there was a dangerous gap. There are a few 1100mm platforms where freight isn't an issue and level boarding is possible, such as all platforms served by Heathrow Express, some parts of London Overground and in future the central section of Crossrail.

 

[Ploughman]

Cambridge 7 & 8 are pretty much perfect to the standard platform offsets of 745mm lateral* / 915mm vertical - its the train builders who can't build trains to a standard size. We (the railway) had to go and move the track and platforms for the 158s, and again for the Eurostars and Class 153 (technically) aren't clear to a standard platform anyway ...

*was 730mm, then 760mm briefly, now 745mm for straight track.

For Eurostar clearance work near Doncaster I was looking after a tamper at Adwick and I expressed surprise at the amount we were being asked to slew the track away from the platform.
If I recall correctly it was approx 95mm away from the platform.
I hoped someone was going to warn the passengers on Monday morning about the increased gap.

I know at the end of the shift the rep from CEDG at York was OK with the results.

 

[Townsend Hook]

Towards the London end of Platform 4 at Horsham passengers actually have to step up from the train to the platform, because the track has sunk so much from the appalling ballast condition.

 

[Pinza-C55]

When the Malton & Driffield Railway opened in 1853 all the stations had low platforms as was common at the time. Later on they were given standard height platforms but the original platform was retained in front of the station.
This is the ruins of Burdale station in 1978, 20 years after the last train left. Note the transition in platform height.


Burdale Station 20.5.78 par PinzaC55, on ipernity

 

[Searchlight]

I suppose this is what Sir Peter Parker meant about "The Crumbling Edge of Quality?"

 

[CharlieSpotted]

Can't remember which platform, but I recall noticing a few times at Wolverhampton that one track (and platform) is noticeably higher (or lower? details are fuzzy) than the others.

Indeed, platform 4 is significantly higher than 3.