Yellow hatching at stations - what does it indicate?

[stuving]

Behind the overall accessibility guide I referenced earlier, there are railway standards. Lots of them! (As is often the case.) The main one is RIS-7016-INS*, and from 2018 there have been six issues of this. The main changes each time are (from a table in Issue 2.2; I have bolded the ones that relate to markings):

02/06/2018 Original document. Merges GIRT7016 issue five Interface between Station Platforms, Track and Trains with GCRT5033 issue two Terminal Tracks - Requirements for Buffer Stops, Arresting Devices and End Impact Walls and GIGN7616 issue two Guidance on Interface between Station Platforms, Track and Trains. Requirements on the overrun risk zone, headroom on platforms, platform recess, platform height and the aerodynamic effects of passing trains in GIRT7016 issue five have been revised. Guidance on platform gap fillers has been added. Editorial changes throughout.

01/06/2019 Issue 1.1 amends clause 3.1.1.3 by removing the word 'vertical'. This is to provide clarity relating to the change of 'Normal' clearance in GIRT7073 from 50mm to 40mm for platforms.

17/07/2021 Issue 1.2 adds new section 9.4 and new Appendix E on platform markings and platform edge tactiles.

04/06/2022 Issue Two updates TSI references to NTSN and includes an additional requirement for restraint of platform copers. Requirements and guidance on platform loading, lighting and avoiding unauthorised access have been transferred from RIS-7700-INS. The former Appendix D on Platform Gap Fillers has been removed as this is now in RIS-8273-RST.

06/12/2025 Issue 2.1 updates references from PRM NTSN to ACC NTSN, following the publication by DfT of the Accessibility NTSN on 2 May 2025. The requirements for Platform Widths and Platform Edge Markings are now an NTR and are therefore copied into GIRT7020.

5/9/2026 Supersedes issue 2.1 Issue 2.2 moves requirements and guidance for platform lighting to RIS-7702-INS. Appendix C has been withdrawn. Minor changes to: • Update guidance and references relating to electrical clearances • Add references to Network Rail Station Capacity Planning design manual and RSSB Technical Note TN7302 • Remove non-inclusive language • Correct typographical error.

Platform curvature is mentioned as something that needs to be included in a risk assessment of dispatch, but no guidance is given about doing that. Hatching is included in issue 1 in a table of hazard mitigations, for "pinch points". Again, no guidance is given about that. That is still there in all later issues, but from 1.2 there is also this (from 2.2):

G 9.6.1.26 When installing markings additional to the yellow line and tactile paving, it is good
practice to:
a) Avoid overlapping or reducing the visibility and impact of the yellow line;
b) Have a clear safety or operational purpose for the additional markings; and
c) Avoid the use of hatching, as it can detract from the yellow line and undermine its
purpose.

Many of the changes in RIS-7016-INS come from the RSSB research project T1118, "Optimising the design and position of platform markings designed to keep people away from the platform edge", which reported in 2018. It contains photos of examples of cross-hatching, commenting that these are rare, inconsistent in their use, and the reasons for them unclear. There were workshops with panels of passengers and dispatchers, and both were not sure what hatching meant. So the recommendation is to not use it for edge or danger zone markings, but only for specific local hazards. So what looks like a contradiction in RIS-7016-INS isn't really, if you can distinguish those two uses.

So whatever the reason for the hatching on Carlisle P4, it is not now recommended in that use, and quite likely wasn't when it was put there.

*All documents are available from rssb.co.uk with an account, and I'm sure anyone can still register. The latest site design has no search box for projects, so you now have to put the Tnnn project number into the general site search.

 

[Russel]

At Carlisle the people being barked at, who were moving within the hatched area, were considerably further back than that.

Avanti staff up and down the WCML seem to almost enjoy barking orders in quite a blunt and condescending tone, more so than on any other TOC, which to me says a lot about the culture within the West Coast franchise going right back to the Virgin days.

 

[Annetts key]

So, in answer to being shouted at, if it was at me, I would walk up to the member of staff and ask. If the answer was not reasonable and it was about platform markings, I would ask them to which standard issued by the RSSB that the markings were based on.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Manchester Piccadilly, platforms 13 & 14 have some hatched areas, at the foot of the stairs and around the Train Despatch Point (which has Train Ready To Start/TRTS plungers, I presume). Attached photos show these features.
As I understand it/AIUI the Rail Safety and Standards Board/RSSB can grant derogations in some circumstances.

Passengers can still be seen standing in both areas.

 

[yorkie]

Manchester Piccadilly, platforms 13 & 14 have some hatched areas, at the foot of the stairs and around the Train Despatch Point (which has Train Ready To Start/TRTS plungers, I presume). Attached photos show these features.
As I understand it/AIUI the Rail Safety and Standards Board/RSSB can grant derogations in some circumstances.

Passengers can still be seen standing in both areas.
View attachment 212117 View attachment 212118

I would view those areas as "do not wait here", but nothing to stop people walking through them as a train is departing/arriving, and I believe that Avanti staff should be adhering to the same principle at stations such as Carlisle too.

As for the staff standing still in those areas, that's not right; hopefully staff will politely ask them to move away from the area, but the binary choice by some station staff seems to be between doing nothing or barking at people aggressively!

 

[CharlieSpotted]

I would view those areas as "do not wait here", but nothing to stop people walking through them as a train is departing/arriving, and I believe that Avanti staff should be adhering to the same principle at stations such as Carlisle too.

As for the staff standing still in those areas, that's not right; hopefully staff will politely ask them to move away from the area, but the binary choice by some station staff seems to be between doing nothing or barking at people aggressively!

I used those platforms for the first time this week, and I could not believe the massive number of people standing on the hatched area at the bottom of the stairs, and immediately beyond it. Walked round the lot of the them and there was almost nobody at the top end of the platform and plenty of space at the far end of the train. I bet the end nearest the stairs was absolutely rammed.

 

[amarshe]

On the roads many motorists don’t seem to know what the yellow hatches are for! What chance most rail travellers know…

There’s one on platform 1 at Forest Hill just after the ticket gates, and a yellow barrier is often in place on the platform itself, all presumably to help the flow of people.

 

[Scotty Dog]

Carlisle is a mess, especially north end of platform 4 where there are three yellow lines, one stops abruptly then takes up a new position further from platform edge.
Instead of admitting the painters mistake or painting over and reapplying in correct distance from platform edge they just added hatching .

At south end of Milton Keynes the hatched area is so staff can quickly identify and respond to people in that area, it being the area most people jump from to commit suicide.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

I used those platforms for the first time this week, and I could not believe the massive number of people standing on the hatched area at the bottom of the stairs, and immediately beyond it. Walked round the lot of the them and there was almost nobody at the top end of the platform and plenty of space at the far end of the train. I bet the end nearest the stairs was absolutely rammed.

Yep, that's always how it is.
The yellow hatching helped a bit, it was worse before