Platforms and safety barriers - from one extreme to the other!

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

An interesting comparison of the scenes at four of our local stations around Bristol: any ideas as to why there are such differences in the methods of indicating where public access on these platforms ends?

And just to add to my puzzlement: why are there yellow lines painted on both platforms at Nailsea, but not at Parson Street or Bedminster??

Nailsea & Backwell:


Stapleton Road:


Parson Street:


Bedminster:


(My thanks to Lee Fletcher for pictures of Nailsea & Backwell and Stapleton Road, and to Bristol Railway Archive for pictures of Parson Street and Bedminster).

[TheLastMinute]

Could it be connected to the fact that Bedminister and Parson St are islands platforms? Or maybe that's just the way fences were build at the time of construction - I think the installation of high security fencing at platform ends is a recent development. I hadn't seen any anywhere until it went up at Nailsea.

As for the yellow line, I would think it's due to a higher line speed, 100mph at Nailsea while only 90 through Parson St and Bedminister.

TLM

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thanks for those suggestions, TheLastMinute!

However, I'm not convinced that the line speed alone determines whether there is a yellow line on the platform or not:

The depth of the yellow line from the edge of the platform should also reflect the speed of the line through the platform - to have it the same distance from the platform edge at Ealing Broadway (125 mph) and Oxford (25 mph) seems illogical to me.

[TheLastMinute]

Chris,

I've had a bit of a dig around on the Railway Group Standards website and found the document that deals with standards for platforms including yellow lines! According to Part 9 of Group Standard GI/RT7016 the following rules apply to protect people from passing trains:

Passing speed	Actions
Passenger trains greater than 125mph	People excluded from platform areas exposed to the aerodynamic effects of trains.
Passenger trains greater than 100mph but not exceeding 125mph	Yellow line on platform 1500mm from the platform edge and warning signs plus risk assessment.
Fright trains greater than 60mph	Risk assessment of aerodynamic effect and unspecified actions to reduce risk to lightweight objects and vulnerable passengers.

For course, if a platform doesn't fit into any of the categories above there's nothing that prevents a station operator painting a yellow line if they wish, as I would guess has happened at Oxford.

TLM

[Phil]

The old "Down" Platform 1 at Chippenham, nearest to the booking office, has a smart yellow line painted along its entire length.

There hasn't been a track running next to it for over 25 years.

[John R]

Not too many high speed passsing trains on the other platforms either.

Chippenham is also notable for having those rather quaint signs warning of passing high speed trains with an outline of a steam locomotive (and a rather slow looking one at that). I've not seen those anywhere else.

[grahame]

Not too many high speed passsing trains on the other platforms either.

No, but there is freight .... and I have seen a 153 go through at - well - speeds that I didn't think were possible from a 153 when it was "skipping stops" trying to catch up on its Westbury to Cheltenham schedule!

Not Chippenham ... but here's another interesting one which I saw the other week and felt to be curious

[TerminalJunkie]

For course, if a platform doesn't fit into any of the categories above there's nothing that prevents a station operator painting a yellow line if they wish, as I would guess has happened at Oxford.

Which presumably is why there's a yellow line along Platform 2 at Exeter St Davids - a bay platform!

[Tim]

Just a slightly connected question: 

Why do platforms have sloping ramps down to track level at their ends? 

I assume that this is to make access easier for track staff, but it does seem to make trespass easier as well and I am therefore surprised that it can be justified where there is another means of access to the track for legitimate purposes. 

Is it just a railway tradition?  I note that new platforms (ie Newport and Swindon) also have these ramps.  Surely if they were removed you could extend the useable part of the platform without much cost and prehaps even reduce the requirement for SDO^▸ (Selective Door Opening)? 

The only other purpose I can think of is to enable passengers who exit an unplatformed door to get to the safety of the platform easily.  But in this day and age exiting an unplatformed door is not something that we encourage or allow (although I wouldn't be surprised if it was common practice 80 years ago).

[Phil]

At the far southern end of Chippenham station, way beyond the canopy roof, the ramps provide the only available means for disabled and incapacitated people to reach the platforms from which trains actually run.

Quite frankly I find this an extraordinary state of affairs in this so-called "enlightened" age. There's been a traverser bridge at Brockenhurst to enable people (and luggage) to reach the opposite platforms for over 100 years, so it's not exactly beyond the wit of mankind to provide a solution.

*shakes fist angrily and yet pointlessly towards the skies*

[bemmy]

An interesting comparison of the scenes at four of our local stations around Bristol: any ideas as to why there are such differences in the methods of indicating where public access on these platforms ends?

And just to add to my puzzlement: why are there yellow lines painted on both platforms at Nailsea, but not at Parson Street or Bedminster??

Could it be related to how busy a station is? Lawrence Hill and Stapleton Road have far more users than Bedminster and Parson Street. (I think a lot of people probably think we still get just the one train a day in each direction..... I haven't seen any publicity for the increased services in recent years.)

[devon_metro]

Could it be connected to the fact that Bedminister and Parson St are islands platforms? Or maybe that's just the way fences were build at the time of construction - I think the installation of high security fencing at platform ends is a recent development. I hadn't seen any anywhere until it went up at Nailsea.

As for the yellow line, I would think it's due to a higher line speed, 100mph at Nailsea while only 90 through Parson St and Bedminister.

TLM

90mph through Bedminster 

[Tim]

The number of passengers must be a factor as well as the speed of the trains.  The yellow lines at Oxford are not overkill.  The platform gets very busy and it is easy for passengers to get too close to the edge so short of widening the platform the yellow lines make sense. 

[Chris from Nailsea]

90mph through Bedminster 

Sometimes, Liam, looking at all the graffiti, vandalism and litter there, I'd be inclined to say that's possibly the best way to go through Bedminster! 

[Chris from Nailsea]

Could it be related to how busy a station is? Lawrence Hill and Stapleton Road have far more users than Bedminster and Parson Street.

Thanks for your suggestion, bemmy - and again, I'm sorry, but I'm not convinced! 

Stapleton Road: no yellow lines - and I suspect the line speed there may be less than 90mph?