Which side is the Platform ?

[MidnightFlyer]

Most trains will have an indication of which side the door is open on. The buttons light up, low level lighting kicks in, there is an audible hustle alarm (etc) but I think the question was being asked about what people would think if there was a facility to indicate to passengers which side the door would be opening on thirty seconds or so before the train came to a halt. Does this happen on 390s? I genuinely dont know, I dont think I have been on a Pendolino in five years.

Nope, I think it only happens once the doors are unlocked.

 

[AlterEgo]

Most trains will have an indication of which side the door is open on.

Yeah - windows.

Seriously, I can see the use on "crush" trains on the Tube so allow people to collect at the door in time, but on a mainline service the facility would be mostly redundant.

Perhaps there could be an announcement for the doors, just for Boppawombat?

 

[HugePilchard]

But it can change.

And boy, can it cause confusion!

I've had it happen to me at least twice on my way into Darlington from the North. On both occasions, I found myself looking out of the window, wondering where the platform was.

On the second occasion, the steward with the trolley had positioned himself in the door on what he (and I) thought to be the non-platform side. I asked him to move aside so that I could get out, and I could see his mouth starting to form the words "The platform's on that side", before he looked out of the window and was surprised to see a platform where he thought there shouldn't be one!

 

[island]

The Singapore MRT has lights on the side where you should exit. Most Tokyo trains do too. New York metro generally gets manual grunts of "doors right" or "doors left".

It's not hard to do.

 

[WestCoast]

Yet another "new" idea that has been in operation on foreign rail networks for years!

Most DB local services either have a manual announcement (usually by the driver) advising this or an automatic announcement with arrow on a display, which is the preferred method of doing it on newer stock. It's not often wrong as well - it works fine.

It's also something I've seen on metro networks in many locations.

 

[Scotty]

Platform 3 at Grantham is a bay, and sometimes the on train staff will announce which side the doors will open as you roll into the station.

Often you get several people waiting to get on the wrong side at Grantham, and if the train is going to Skegness, a lot of those people have to lump their luggage back around the other side.

 

[WestCoast]

Yeah - windows.

It's still nice to have a prior indication, plus you can barely see anything out of a Pendo window when stood up (except by the doors!).

Also something appreciated by those who like to get themselves positioned by the correct door ready for a quick exit - particularly relevant on local/regional services.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Platform 3 at Grantham is a bay, and sometimes the on train staff will announce which side the doors will open as you roll into the station.

Often you get several people waiting to get on the wrong side at Grantham, and if the train is going to Skegness, a lot of those people have to lump their luggage back around the other side.

Had that in August last year. Everyone waited (with luggage, kids etc) on the platform 4 side of the bay, as did I. When the train pulled in (a 153 + 156), the doors were released on the p2 side. I saw already on (and stood up!) when some were still trying to work out what to do. In the end they put an announcement out on the station...

 

[CardiffKid]

The Rome Metro map has arrows showing which side of the train to alight through

 

[TDK]

I think it is a silly expensive idea - you have a 50-50 chance on what side the platform is going to be and you will not loose any time if you initially guess wrong, someone who is visually impaired or hard of hearing will either ask or observe what the score is or a member of staff will assist them - if I have someone on my train who is visually impaired I will buzz up control to ask them to be met anyway.

 

[WestCoast]

I think it is a silly expensive idea - you have a 50-50 chance on what side the platform is going to be and you will not loose any time if you initially guess wrong, someone who is visually impaired or hard of hearing will either ask or observe what the score is or a member of staff will assist them - if I have someone on my train who is visually impaired I will buzz up control to ask them to be met anyway.

Mainline trains, it probably would cost a considerable amount and wouldn't be practical to have an auto system. The driver tends to do a quick announcement "alight left" or "alight right" upon approach on regional DB mainline trains. Drivers tend to do a lot more announcing in any case. I actually find it quite handy if the train is busy.

In any case, it's a lot more useful than some of the stuff babbled about on UK trains - CCTV warnings and taking litter to bins is not urgent information!

 

[Boppawombat]

Looking at the crowd of people standing by the doors on the wrong side of the train to get off at Crewe today, I was struck by an idea.

Now, most of us who are regular travellers I am sure know full well which side the platforms are likely to be at any station, and can anticipate changes to the norm from the approach to the station. However, for the regular public would it not be an idea to have above each door an electronic sign saying either “Platform this side” or “Platform other side”. Surely in these days where platforms can be seen well beforehand on the web, and trains have electronic onboard systems showing the next stop, this should be faily easy to achieve ?

The anticipated platform side can be programmed in, and any last minute changes could be alerted by the driver pressing a button once the signals made clear which side the platform would actually be.

What do you folks think of this idea ?

Be careful what you wish for!


[although, thinking about it, as pointed out in the post above, if some of the more pointless announcements can be phased out, something like this one could be implemented as it does serve a more useful purpose....]