[Trivia] Stations on a Gradient

[edwin_m]

Im pretty sure one of the stations in the TL core has a steep gradient at one end of the platform , as they had to close the branch line on the other side . Could someone shed some light on which station ?

Farringdon drops away at the Kings Cross end, which might have been the reason they couldn't extend the platforms at that end (though space is pretty tight as well). They closed the Moorgate branch to extend the platforms at the other end instead.

At City Thameslink the original line above street level was replaced by an underground route. The middle of the platforms is level but there is a very distinct slope upwards towards each end.

 

[Ianigsy]

An interesting station for gradients is Slussen on the Stockholm Tunnelbana.

You have two lines heading southbound out of the city centre, but the one on the outside set of tracks has to bear west after leaving the station while the central pair of tracks continues southwards. The end result is that the northbound and southbound platforms are more or less level at the northern end, but about 6ft apart at the southern end because one track is climbing and the other descending.

 

[Firesprite]

It's been a quarter of a century since I was there so my memory may be playing tricks on me but doesn't the island platform at Portsmouth & Southsea have a gradient at the London end?

It does

 

[Dr_Paul]

Minfordd, Penrhyn, Tan-y-Bwlch and Dduallt stations on the Ffestiniog Railway are on a grade, as would have been the original Tanygrisiau station, as the line was built on a pretty much continuous grade down to Boston Lodge.

 

[PHILIPE]

Isn't the new Low Moor station on a slight gradient? AIUI it was this, along with also being on a curve, which caused some of the delays in construction.

I should hope it's not too steep as nowadays there a standards, i.e. minimum rise for any new stations, in place.

 

[edwin_m]

I should hope it's not too steep as nowadays there a standards, i.e. minimum rise for any new stations, in place.

Which, according to the RSSB research I linked in #31, may be unnecessary. Good to see someone challenging a standard for a change instead of imposing new ones.

 

[Parallel]

Dingle Road on the Penarth line and Freshford on the HOW line - not sure of the actual gradients of either but Dingle Road occasionally gets omitted Penarth bound if a single pacer is working alone.

 

[Johncleesefan]

Chetnole and upwey are both steep. Dilton marsh is both tiny (15m) and very steep. A real pleasure to call at

 

[PHILIPE]

Dingle Road on the Penarth line and Freshford on the HOW line - not sure of the actual gradients of either but Dingle Road occasionally gets omitted Penarth bound if a single pacer is working alone.

? put this in the moved stations thread. The last time I looked Freshford was between Bath and Bradford on Avon

 

[Sean Emmett]

City Thameslink, Farringdon, Ivybridge, Liskeard, Bodmin Parkway.

Not aware that the gradient thro Ivybridge is particularly severe, and there is a definite easing thro Bodmin Parkway.

I can't open the link to the RSSB report in #21, but have read it before.

This thread isn't 'trivia' like some of them on here as gradient was cited as a big obstacle in getting new stations opened (or old stations re-opened), as is curvature. Would be interested to know what the current standards are in the light of the RSSB report.

On Filton Bank the 1:75 is a big problem and the costs of re-grading half a mile before and after a station site has made the likelihood of re-opening Horfield on its historic site, or a nearby alternative (Constable Road) less likely, as well as moving a 75 mph crossover that hasn't actually been built yet.

As far as re-opening Ashley Hill (now to be called Ashley Down) is concerned I am interested in what passive provision will be made as part of the 4-tracking programme, if any?

 

[Parallel]

? put this in the moved stations thread. The last time I looked Freshford was between Bath and Bradford on Avon

Apologies - I meant Heart Of Wessex.

 

[Joseph_Locke]

Which, according to the RSSB research I linked in #31, may be unnecessary. Good to see someone challenging a standard for a change instead of imposing new ones.

Trains not calling and trains that call but don't reverse or stable are all (now) low risk items. You can't have a new platform (in the UK) steeper than 1:20 because it would fail a DIA, but other than that there isn't really a limit.

The issue is trains left unattended (e.g. reversing or stabled) where experience shows us that drivers are human, air brakes do leak off, brake shoes and pads do wear, the wind does blow, etc. so there is still a small but tangible risk of trains rolling away, and anything we can do to mitigate it is good. By empirical testing, trains typically don't roll away if left on 1 in 500 gradients, so that's the magic number in such cases (but even then there are other mitigations, like headshunts, that can help with a steeper gradient).

Farringdon is something like 1 in 29 at one end and the risk assessments were comprehensive ...

 

[najaB]

The issue is trains left unattended (e.g. reversing or stabled) where experience shows us that drivers are human, air brakes do leak off, brake shoes and pads do wear, the wind does blow, etc. so there is still a small but tangible risk of trains rolling away, and anything we can do to mitigate it is good.

Tangentially related, this happened pop up in my YouTube recommended videos list:
[youtube]wxCBRhbug-k[/youtube]
While it deals with runaways in general it's an interesting video if (like me) you haven't seen it already.

 

[BelleIsle]

Although no longer with us, the Widened Lines platforms at Kings Cross were a tad steep. Getting away with a 31 in the evening peak could be a rather smokey affair.

 

[Thebaz]

West Croydon. Lines from Sutton rise into the station before levelling off at the London end of the platforms.

 

[anti-pacer]

Is Rotherhithe (LO) station on a slight gradient?

I have a feeling there's an incline at the Rochdale end of the platforms at Manchester Victoria.

 

[Clansman]

Perth is on a slight gradient, as is Dundee.

 

[tramdan]

Someone else mentioned tramways so I'll add a couple there, Netherthorpe Road (Sheffield Supertram) and The Forest (Nottingham NET) the latter being one I have considerable experience dealing with!

 

[anti-pacer]

Someone else mentioned tramways so I'll add a couple there, Netherthorpe Road (Sheffield Supertram) and The Forest (Nottingham NET) the latter being one I have considerable experience dealing with!

High School does too - probably the biggest.

 

[tramdan]

High School does too - probably the biggest.

The Forest is steeper, High School is nearly on the top of the hill so isn't as bad throughout the platforms. One of the good things about that stop though is that unlike The Forest, traffic passing through helps to keep the rails clean so it's rare that you'll slide significantly.

 

[8A Rail]

Ok not as steep as some already stated but Whiston Station (L&M line) is built on a 1:91 / 1:99 gradient.

 

[edwin_m]

The former Bradford Exchange station was at the bottom of a steep gradient. When it was closed and the line truncated to what is now Bradford Interchange, it was re-graded so the platforms are partly level and the tracks terminate approximately at the level of a road they used to pass under. Even so there is still a noticeable change in gradient towards the far end of the platforms.