What platform height to use?

[MattW]

Let's pretend that tomorrow, Atlanta announced it'd be building a new rail station for commuter, conventional, and high speed rail. The next question after funding (and possibly others) is what platform heights to use? The obvious choice right now is 48 inches because of the Crescent and I'm assuming what HSR equipment will be. But what about Superliners? If the next day Amtrak announced the immediate construction of a CHI-MIA route using Superliner equipment, they have floor heights of 18 inches. Most commuter equipment (read: Bombardier bi-levels <_< ) have entrance-floor heights of 25 inches if I recall. So where's the happy medium? A few platforms at 48 inches, the rest at 18 with steps to the commuter cars? Few at 48, few at 25, few at 18? I really wish there'd be much more standardization of train floor heights, even having just 2 would make things easier <_<

Thoughts? Opinions?

 

[Crescent ATN & TCL]

Let's pretend that tomorrow, Atlanta announced it'd be building a new rail station for commuter, conventional, and high speed rail. The next question after funding (and possibly others) is what platform heights to use? The obvious choice right now is 48 inches because of the Crescent and I'm assuming what HSR equipment will be. But what about Superliners? If the next day Amtrak announced the immediate construction of a CHI-MIA route using Superliner equipment, they have floor heights of 18 inches. Most commuter equipment (read: Bombardier bi-levels <_< ) have entrance-floor heights of 25 inches if I recall. So where's the happy medium? A few platforms at 48 inches, the rest at 18 with steps to the commuter cars? Few at 48, few at 25, few at 18? I really wish there'd be much more standardization of train floor heights, even having just 2 would make things easier <_<

Thoughts? Opinions?

The ideal solution would be to build platforms at the lowest height and design the train cars to automatically put out steps to accommodate the platform. The Eurostars and most of the other modern equipment in Europe does this.

 

[the_traveler]

The station at KIN has a long (10-15 car) low level platform. but when they remodeled the platform to be ADA compliant, they built a short high level platform with a ramp at each end of the platform. This allows BC and handicapped passengers to board at level! It also allows the AE to stop - if necessary, as there are no steps on an AE. (It did stop at least once - that I know of - with your's truly aboard!

)

 

[George Harris]

There is no simple answer. If we were to back up 60 years to the time that was before Santa Fe Hi-Levels and C&NW Gallery cars, there would have been, because all passenger equipment in this country had sdie doors at the ends with steps for low level boarding and traps over the steps for high level boarding.

If you are in Superliner and like equipment only territory, the answer is still simple, but not the same as in the past.

If you are in single level only territory, the answer is simple.

The porblem is overlap territory.

 

[Shawn Ryu]

Do what DC does, built them both. Obviously if the new station is going to serve all those trains they are going to have more than 1 or 2 platforms and tracks.