Okay, but does the signaller not get such a meeting for offering such a route in the first place?
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Stations that should have their platforms renumbered
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Okay, but does the signaller not get such a meeting for offering such a route in the first place?
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RailUK Forums
61653 HTAFC
Veteran Member
Yes, but drivers can't blindly accept a route offered and then pin all the responsibility on the signaller when it backfires. It's up to the driver to know what is and isn't a correct route for the job they're on.
Apologies, didn’t make it clear - but yes, as above, the driver’s responsible for challenging a wrong route. Sometimes it’ll be something like a service that’s booked to be a two car being strengthened to four and the signalman isn’t aware for some reason. It’s in everyone’s best interests to have as much chance as possible of identifying the error before it gets much more difficult to resolve!
Even more importantly, though, some routes will have a lower permissible speed than others, so the driver clearly needs to know exactly where he’s been routed - the same goes for being unexpected routed into a short bay platform (like 2C at Sheffield!).
R G NOW.
Member
The numbers listed here are obviously platform numbers and ''T' I would assume is the through line and does not lead to a platform. I think there is something like this at Leeds.
R G NOW.
Member
Something on the lines of this happened in Gloucester when the I.E.T Trains first started. They put one on platform 1 and found it did not fit and ended up over the points. The HST''s
fitted onto all platforms except 3 which is the Fishguard harbour bay.
T takes you to the through line, but you can get to the far end of platform 1 through the crossover halfway down.
edwin_m
Veteran Member
What's the indication for 2C - is it "B" for "bay" like it used to be for 5 at Derby?
‘D’ (for Dock) if I’m not mistaken!
Thanks - this is all good ammunition the next time I meet one of the "Why do they get paid so much when they just press a button to make the train go?" people.
noddingdonkey
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W (now 1) was added as the first (or preliminary) stage of the remodelling, and the W designation was always known to be temporary (depending on who you ask, the W stands for West or Wellington). Subsequent growth has led to the need for another platform, and as they've now renumbered them in order, 0 is the logical designation.
I do wonder if the future will see Leeds gain a platform -1 and -2!
That caused some confusion at the time, being introduced at about the same time as the Leeds (Whitehall) temporary station/platform was introduced in a blaze of publicity. Some people though Platform W referred to this platform.
NorthernSpirit
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W (now 1) was added as the first (or preliminary) stage of the remodelling, and the W designation was always known to be temporary (depending on who you ask, the W stands for West or Wellington). Subsequent growth has led to the need for another platform, and as they've now renumbered them in order, 0 is the logical designation.
I do wonder if the future will see Leeds gain a platform -1 and -2!
If Leeds gains anymore platforms then they may as well letter them as platform Y, X and W. Z wouldn't be able to be used as at a glance it would appear as a 2. Either that or build a new smaller railway station called Leeds West or Leeds Whitehall Road.
I still think that Huddersfield needs renumbering so to include a platform 3 and a platform 7, however with CP6 starting soon we could see it being renumbered alomg with the rest of the stations en route.
I'm tempted to say Bristol Temple Meads, as platform 2 is out of use and there is no platform 14 for some strange reason.
61653 HTAFC
Veteran Member
Huddersfield's platforms will hopefully be renumbered as part of the upgrade, and as the current plans will see 5 and 6 removed, they'll likely be 1 & 2 as today with 4 becoming 3, 8 becoming 4, with new platforms 5 (down slow) and 6 (bay on the site of the sidings). The other platforms on the route don't need changing, though Mirfield will only have two and they'll both be new.
Bristol Temple Meads has no 14 because most of the 'main' platforms are double length but 13 has buffers at the west end so splitting it would be unnecessary.
Mikey C
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Nothing dramatic, but one I noticed the other day was Highbury & Islington, where because the deep platforms are numbered 3-6, I assume when the East London extension was added and the Overground station became a 4 platform station, the numbering now goes 1,2,7,8, with 2 and 7 next to each other!
miklcct
On Moderation
It's the same at St Prancas. Using both letters and numbers make it clear that they are located in different part of the station!
SouthStand
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Got to love this irrational fear of zero. You probably still use Fahrenheit and imperial measures
If you mean “ why are the platforms numbered 2 - 4?” ( applies to Northumberland Park as well), a 4th platform face is in the pipeline. Is there a general ( or even local) convention to number from the “up side”?
The convention is to number from the main entrance, or if the station building is across the tracks then to number from left to right as seen from the entrance. It wasn't universal though.
There was/is probably a marginal bias towards locating the main building on the London bound platform in most cases. But local roads or geography would often mean the station building was on the Down side. However as stations have been rebuilt/remodelled platforms are not always renumbered so the link to the station masters house is more difficult to spot.
I believe the main reason why some stations have confusing platform numbers is that the signalling wires and cables are all fully labelled with the platform numbers so rearranging the platform numbers to a less confusing order will need to involve relabelling all the wires and cables together with the circuit diagrams - that is a very big task in itself.
Hence Lincoln only having it platform numbers tidied up during the 2008 resignalling.
Hence Lincoln only having it platform numbers tidied up during the 2008 resignalling.
William3000
Member
Cambridge station’s 1 and 4 are I think bona fide two platforms as there is a cross over between them and the entire length of 1 and 4 combined is probably about 26 coaches long, given the cross over section can accommodate about 2 and 1 and 4 are 12 car. The ends of both are also labelled 1a and 4a but since the completion of 7 and 8 a decade ago, I’ve never seen 1a and 4a appear on the display boards. It would cause all major of confusion if the entire platform had the same number, particularly given both platforms are bi-directional.
I recall Leeds used to have a Platform W - did it stand for West? I think it’s now platform 17.Hi,
Sheffield platform 2c has always confused me with it’s numbering, it’s undoubtedly a platform in its own right and in my view should be called platform 3 with the existing platform 3 being renamed platform 4 and so on. I’d be willing to bet that 2c’s numbering has caused customer confusion on many occasions, particularly amongst the travelling public who seldom use the railway.
Sheffield station layout for those unaware:
This leads me to three questions:
- Why is Sheffield platform 2c numbered as such?
- What would the barriers be to renumbering Sheffield’s platforms to something more customer friendly?
- Are there any other stations across the network that suffer from similar issues or could do with being renumbered for other reasons?
Many Thanks
If East West Rail goes ahead 9 and 10, and possibly 11 are almost certain. This has been factored in - and the stabling would have to be reprovided elsewhere. I think it’s inevitable that at some point in the future Cambridge will need more through platforms.
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It became platform 1 during the remodelling. Platform 17 was newly built.
ScottGallagher
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In terms of number sequencing for the main London Termini, Is there a logical reason that from concourse view Euston, Marylebone and Kings Cross are numbered from 1 right to left and all the others left to right? I understand original St Pancras was an exception in that close group on the Euston Road and was left to right...
Not if you are Chris Green. He had a thing about platform 1 being toward London. The platforms at both Hitchin and Welwyn Garden City were renumbered in the NSE era. Somehow St Neots escaped this fate.
Cambridge platform numbering made absolute sense. The south end was 1-3, going left to right, the north end was 4-6, going right to left. The A and B on platforms 1 and 4 were for trains that split at Cambridge.
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swt_passenger
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It’s probably true for a significant majority, but sometimes they’re numbered from the main entrance side if it suits things better.
Railsigns
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The problem isn't the wires and cables; it's that the signals at some stations, especially larger ones, have route indicators that display a platform number to drivers of approaching trains.
Nottingham59
Established Member
Not that irrational. People who are not used the the railways could easily assume that a platform 0 on the display means that the platform hasn't been allocated yet. There are several instances in these forums where that has happened.
YorksLad12
Established Member
W for Wellington, as it was one of the former Wellington Station platforms brought back into use when the parcel platforms were no longer needed. I'm not sure of the rumours of platforms X and Y to fill the gap were true but they are where P2 & P3 are.
Kings Cross used to be left-to-right - I shared a drawing recently, possibly up this very thread. At some point it was then reversed, probably when the rest of the infill was done and to incorporate the suburban platforms to form one sequence (I'm guessing - and would like to know the answer, if anyone has it).
Steve Harris
Member
[/automerge]
So no, I wouldn't say 9, 10 and 11 are "almost certain" (and btw, personally, good english refers something has to be either certain or not).
Your earlier post regarding the numbering of Cambridge platforms is spot on though ! Cambridge was only made slightly confusing when 7 and 8 were added, this confusion wouldn't of happended if the footbridge stairs had been in the entrance/booking hall. However, we both know there isn't enough room to have fitted them in.
And that is a very big IF. And by the time it actually reaches Cambridge the current planes may of well change !!
So no, I wouldn't say 9, 10 and 11 are "almost certain" (and btw, personally, good english refers something has to be either certain or not).
Your earlier post regarding the numbering of Cambridge platforms is spot on though ! Cambridge was only made slightly confusing when 7 and 8 were added, this confusion wouldn't of happended if the footbridge stairs had been in the entrance/booking hall. However, we both know there isn't enough room to have fitted them in.
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Its something I'd not considered before. The logical sequence would have been to swap numbers for platforms 4 and 6.
ashkeba
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Was it not more that the station building is listed Grade II and alteration on that scale too expensive?
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