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

[whole diary]

[bemmy]

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! 

I was referring to the whassanames to stop people walking off the end of the platform, rather than the yellow lines. But I'm not convinced either, maybe they just haven't got round to doing ours yet.

I don't think any train passes through Bedminster or Parson St at anywhere near 90mph, so I can see why we don't need the yellow lines.

[bemmy]

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! 

Oi! I heard that!

[Chris from Nailsea]

I was referring to the whassanames to stop people walking off the end of the platform, rather than the yellow lines. But I'm not convinced either, maybe they just haven't got round to doing ours yet.

Sorry, bemmy, I misunderstood your point. 

These new heavily padlocked 'security gates' and galvanised spiked metal railings are a recent addition to selected stations, certainly - but how it is decided which stations should have them is not clear.  However, on a rather sombre note, there has been at least one fatality at Bedminster, involving someone being on the tracks - but none at Nailsea & Backwell, so far as I'm aware?  See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/3703594.stm 

I don't think any train passes through Bedminster or Parson St at anywhere near 90mph, so I can see why we don't need the yellow lines.

Maybe not 90mph, but some of the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) services from BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI)) have reached a fair speed by the time they pass through Parson Street, if not through Bedminster?

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! 

Oi! I heard that!

I did say, 'sometimes' ... 

[IndustryInsider]

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

Perhaps the Chippenham situation demonstrates the lack of consistency with the rules I was discussing a few weeks ago in a different thread. Contrast Oxford's yellow lines with Banbury just down the line;

Granted, Oxford does have a busier platform, but you have thick yellow lines clearly marked on both straight platforms with a 25mph linespeed. At Banbury the up platform has a linespeed of 75mph with a quite tight curve restricting the visual warning you get of an approaching train. A thin yellow line was painted many years ago but has faded to be totally invisible in any of the well-used areas of the platform. Standing there late last night a liner roared through at 75mph and the draught, noise and speed of the train created quite an nervy feeling inside me (and I'm quite used to the movement of trains!) as I stood well back from the edge of the platform. If I was a 'risk assessor' I'd have dashed to the nearest Homebase for a big pot of yellow paint sharpish!

[miniman]

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*

IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly) Chippenham should have lifts by 2012 or something. Epic levels of investment I think you'll agree 

[Chris from Nailsea]

By the way, something I've noticed recently at Nailsea & Backwell is that the 'industrial strength' padlocks on all those gates have disappeared - perhaps a belated acknowledgement that having such 'over-the-top' security (next to a rubber mat) is a bit of a waste of such hardware?

However - the padlocks on similar gates at (just for example) Lawrence Hill remain in place (my personal observation, 8 / 9 October)?