Forum Topic

Mind the Gap

Not exactly complaining, just puzzled.  WHY are there such huge  gaps between train and platform?  Is the fault with the trains or with the platforms?  Walking difficulties and a very modest bit of luggage does make it a real challenge at every station (three trains out and three home again two days later, so six challenges.)Maybe I should regard it as my version of extreme sports??

Judy Allen ● 426d25 Comments

On BBC local news this evening a lady who fractured her leg in 2 places at Clapham Junction station 9 months ago because of the gap between the train and platform. “Boarding a train at Platform 10 at Clapham Junction station, she misjudged the big gap between the train and the platform.  She caught her foot and fell into the carriage, breaking her leg in 2 places and damaging her shoulder”. It was difficult, from the photos online and on tv, to tell which gap was bigger Clapham Junction or Raynes Park.  However people seemed to still be able to just about step down from the train onto Platform 10, whereas I had to jump down from the train at Raynes Park.

Martine Guy ● 303d

Another one:https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/elizabeth-line-ealing-broadway-gap-platform-station-injuries-sadiq-khan-b1172537.html

Philippa Bond ● 329d

As an aside, there is a saying (probably more relevant to road than rail) "traffic expands to fill the space available". I wonder if the late government ever considered that approach when cancelling part of the HS2 programme?

James Dixon ● 334d

The handrail on newer tubes and trains helps but the gap and step up or drop down is difficult.  The TfL website is a help for looking up and planning more accessible stations when planning a route but the current situation shows the situation is far from satisfactory.  The question is what is the solution for the different trains.  Is the raised hump as has been added in Northwich the solution - for all or for some more stations?BTW there are already complaints of overcrowding on the Lizzie Line into central London by the time it gets from Reading just as far as West Ealing!

Philippa Bond ● 334d

The problem at Raynes Park is both.  There was no way I could step down from the train, I had to jump.  

Martine Guy ● 335d

Is the major problem vertical or horizontal? (Or both?)

David Ainsworth ● 335d

Another passenger has come forward after falling and being injured at Ealing  Broadway station where the gap between train and station platform can be tricky to negotiate.https://www.ealingtoday.co.uk/default.asp?section=info&page=eaealingbroadwaystation009.htm

Philippa Bond ● 335d

They have been around for a while and actually it's quite good, as keeping the same voice all the time becomes a bit like white noise. Makes people listen to the announcement.

Maxine Campbell ● 336d

So did you see this solution that I posted previously?https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/northwich-rail-passengers-get-the-humpHas anybody used this station or any of the others that have had this kind of treatment to give easier access to trains?Presumably this like any other changes to give easier access have to be lobbied for.

Philippa Bond ● 336d

And the gap in Ealing Station of the Elizabeth Line is beyond ridiculous!  A new line and such a danger, truly preposterous.

Ivonne Holliday ● 337d

I read something on Rail UK Forum about stations with the largest gap between platform and train.  Raynes Park, unsurprisingly, gets several mentions, as does Platform 8 Clapham Junction.  Vauxhall, which I mentioned higher up in the thread, also gets a mention, but the gap at Raynes Park is bigger than Vauxhall.

Martine Guy ● 338d

Shocking that such an obvious danger has not been properly acknowledged  and addressed .It's 2024 you should not need to be a long jump champion to use public transport.

Ed Robinson ● 338d

Thanks for this, Ed.  I wondered if I was being a wimp but when the train doors opened and I saw the gap, I thought OMG!  I had to judge how much I needed to jump and whether I could do it safely.  I feel really sorry for Raynes Park residents.  One article said that there had been droves of complaints.

Martine Guy ● 338d

It seems the gap is quite famous- from 3rd August 2009"Commuters must continue to mind the gap at Raynes Park"https://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/4515679.commuters-must-continue-to-mind-the-gap-at-raynes-park/Also "Raynes Park is a pretty distinctive station, although not for architectural reasons. What makes it stand out from the crowd is the very large gap between its two island platforms."https://innsidetrack.wordpress.com/2017/02/23/raynes-park/#:~:text=Raynes%20Park%20is%20a%20pretty,between%20its%20two%20island%20platforms.

Ed Robinson ● 338d

I got off the train at Raynes Park today and was worried about the gap from the train down onto the platform.  I had to jump from the train and really think about what I was about to do.  When I mentioned it to the family later on, my teenage daughter said the gap at Raynes Park station between the platform and train is huge, as she gets off there when visiting a friend. Going back a few years, when I used to use Raynes Park station fairly often to visit someone, I don’t remember the gap being so bad, so I assume these gaps are occurring because of newer style trains.  So glad I don’t commute from Raynes Park.

Martine Guy ● 338d

Sorry Northwich - not Norwich!https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/northwich-rail-passengers-get-the-hump

Philippa Bond ● 370d

https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/platform-height-issue-for-new-built-stations.195903/I was looking for the thread on here about Eric Leach being injured due to the gap between the Elizabeth Line train and the platform at Ealing Broadway station but didn't find it.There has been another injury reported (I bet many aren't) and I did a little more looking.  I see that Norwich now has a hump which makes it easier to get on and off the trains BUT as users of the trains we may all need to learn and try and make sure that we try and get on and off the trains at the best place if we find it at all difficult.

Philippa Bond ● 370d

I find Vauxhall quite terrifying. There is a large gap and the train is high at that station. I'm an older person too, and only 5ft tall. I reach in for the handrail and haul myself in, but I do wonder how long I'll be able to do that. I avoid Vauxhall when it's darkThe Clapham Junction platforms which go to Victoria are also low and there's a big gap between the train and the platform edge. If I'm arriving at that platform I have to jump down, and I mean jump. People do fall under trains and tubes - this happened to a woman in Barnet. I find it frightening.

Elizabeth Balsom ● 425d

And I note TfL is now employing child labour to warn us to take care on escalators:https://www.shponline.co.uk/common-workplace-hazards/childs-voice-helps-reduce-injuries-by-a-third-at-london-tube-station/amp/Let's wait for the talking dog telling us we're breaching TfL's T&Cs if we're not carrying a dog on the escalators :-(I think gaps aren't uncommon on continental trains and trams as well as the UK, as noted previously a fact of long established infrastructure and evolving train designs ...

Michael Ixer ● 425d

Ms AllenAt least TfL often gives a warning to 'Mind the Gap'.In fact it is very safety conscious.I was recently waiting for a tube at Embankment and a nice recorded lady told me to take great care that my hat and scarf were not disturbed by an arriving train such that I might be pulled onto the track !

John Hawkes ● 425d

And I find I have to lunge upwards and forwards to grab the rail. Who needs a gym!

Judy Allen ● 426d

I'm so pleased that there is that handrail - which used to be rare but is now much more frequent.  There is so often a steep drop down to the platform now that I no longer have the bounce in my step that I used to have!

Philippa Bond ● 426d

We got on a train yesterday at Vauxhall.  Now I am an older person, the huge gap between the train and the platform made me nervous.  I can’t imagine anymore being able to step up onto the train without holding onto the hand rail inside the door.

Martine Guy ● 426d

Can't believe I'd forgotten the outward opening doors! The curve I was aware of and if there's time I walk along to the least gap, but often it's a case of get on or miss it.  Thank you, Andrew, at least I understand now!

Judy Allen ● 426d

There are really two kinds of gap. 1). Some readers may recall trains once had outward opening doors.  Platforms were lower than train floors to stay clear of these.  And I suspect train floors have risen with time so as to fit all the motors etc. below.  TfL are tackling this on the tube with raised areas.2). Many platforms are on a curve.  These leave either the ends or middle of each (straight) carriage inevitably a long  way from the platform curve. Something like a bus ramp might help, but I've not seen this proposed, and at busy times it could be even more of a hazard.

Andrew Catto ● 426d