• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

TRIVIA: Train length equal to platform number

Status
Not open for further replies.

InOban

Established Member
Joined
12 Mar 2017
Messages
4,208
Platforms 3 and 4 at Waverley are used for services to North Berwick, or to Tweedbank. So either 385 or 170. But I think that a 4 coach is unlikely. So only platform 3 counts here.
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Huntergreed

Established Member
Associate Staff
Events Co-ordinator
Joined
16 Jan 2016
Messages
3,019
Location
Dumfries
Carlisle you can have a 2 car 156 on platform 2, 3 car 185 on platform 3, 4 Car 350 on platform 4.

Glasgow Central I’ve seen a 9 car 390 on platform 9 on a Sunday
 

op13200

New Member
Joined
9 Apr 2020
Messages
2
Location
Leicestershire
This makes me think.... Glasgow Queen Street is small enough, with long enough platforms, that one could see 1 vehicle in Platform 1, two in Platform 2, and so forth up to seven in Platform 7. Has this ever happened, either at Glasgow Queen Street or elsewhere?

Obviously it's trivial with something like the Heart of Wales line, where one-car DMUs routinely call at single-platform stations. But what's the largest station where this is possible?
A geoff marshall video on southeastern (
) has geoff catching the 12:12 from platform 12
 

Dr_Paul

Established Member
Joined
3 Sep 2013
Messages
1,355
Waterloo will almost certainly have had a 455 or 450 (both four cars) on platform 4; two three-car 159s on platform 6; two 450s on platform 8; three 159s on platform 9; two five-car 444s on platform 10; three 450s on platform 12.

Other possibilities are two 159s and one two-car 158 on platform 8; one 455 and one two-car 456 on platform 6; two 455s on platform 8; two 455s and one 456 on platform 10 (455s and 456s are usually only on platforms 1 to 5 and the Windsor line platforms); one 159 and two 158s on platform 7. It's not impossible to have had a 444, a 458 or 707 (all 5 cars) on platform 5, but pretty unlikely as 444s are usually on the main fast services, and I've yet to see a single 458 or 707 in service. Two 707s or 458s on platform 10 isn't impossible, but they're usually on platforms 1 to 5 and the Windsor line platforms.

I once saw a 450 and 444 combination on an up fast; whether it went on platform 9 I don't know.
 

Mikey C

Established Member
Joined
11 Feb 2013
Messages
6,830
London "suffers" from a lack of short trains to match the low platform numbers, but the likes of Greenwich and Woolwich Arsenal will see 3 car DLR trains on their Platform 3s while 5 car 378s serve Platform 5 at Willesden Junction (and previously 4 car 378s served Platform 4).

I assume platforms 4 to 6 at Charing Cross and Cannon Street will have seen matching trains, while Marylebone will presumably have have platforms 2 to 6 filled with matching trains, with the Chiltern mix and match of 2, 3 and 4 car 165s and Turbostars.
 

Dr_Paul

Established Member
Joined
3 Sep 2013
Messages
1,355
Vauxhall's platform 8 will have had loads of eight-car trains stopping there over the decades: two 4-SUBs and two 4-EPBs in bygone days, two 455s and occasionally two 450s in more modern times. Platform 4 would have had single 4-SUBs and 4-EPBs, and still has single 455s and 450s, although they're pretty rare these days as they usually go around in pairs.
 

Ianno87

Veteran Member
Joined
3 May 2015
Messages
15,215
Cambridge will regularly have 4 car EMUs (or 755s) in Platform 4, and 8 car EMUs in Platform 8.
 

CaptainBen

Member
Joined
3 Feb 2020
Messages
35
Location
London
Before the 313s were retired from Great Northern, they occasionally ran as single units (3 coach), using platform 3 at Gordon Hill and (I tihnk ) Hertford North.
 

sw1ller

Established Member
Joined
4 Jan 2013
Messages
1,567
Quite often see a 153 in P1, 2car in P2, 3 in 3 and every now and again 4 in P4 at Chester.
 

ValleyLines142

Established Member
Joined
25 Jul 2011
Messages
6,844
Location
Gloucester
Waterloo will almost certainly have had a 455 or 450 (both four cars) on platform 4; two three-car 159s on platform 6; two 450s on platform 8; three 159s on platform 9; two five-car 444s on platform 10; three 450s on platform 12.

Other possibilities are two 159s and one two-car 158 on platform 8; one 455 and one two-car 456 on platform 6; two 455s on platform 8; two 455s and one 456 on platform 10 (455s and 456s are usually only on platforms 1 to 5 and the Windsor line platforms); one 159 and two 158s on platform 7. It's not impossible to have had a 444, a 458 or 707 (all 5 cars) on platform 5, but pretty unlikely as 444s are usually on the main fast services, and I've yet to see a single 458 or 707 in service. Two 707s or 458s on platform 10 isn't impossible, but they're usually on platforms 1 to 5 and the Windsor line platforms.

I once saw a 450 and 444 combination on an up fast; whether it went on platform 9 I don't know.

A pair of 707s are booked for the 1853 Waterloo to Guildford via Cobham (fast to Surbiton), which regularly departs from platform 10.

At Cardiff Central, a single 153 can be seen terminating on platform 1 if coming from the City Line, or on Maesteg to Cheltenhams which do produce a single unit sometimes, a 2-car 170 or 175 on platform 2 for Cheltenham or Manchester, 3-car 166, 3-car 170, 3-car 175 on platform 3, HST on platform 4 and platform 6 sees 6-car ECS workings.
 

Statto

Established Member
Joined
8 Feb 2011
Messages
3,208
Location
At home or at the pub
Hunts Cross, Southport, Moorfields, Liverpool Central, James Street, Hamilton Square all have platform 3s which regularly see 3 coaches!
Liverpool South Parkway has a platform 2 that often sees 2 cars, occasionally a 4 coach on platform 4 an quite often a 6 on platform 6!

Birkenhead North P3, regularly sees 3 car services, Rock Ferry has a P3 too, that's is a bay platform, & 3 car trains are stabled on that platform overnight, or when the line south of RocK Ferry is blocked mostly for engineering works.
 

61653 HTAFC

Veteran Member
Joined
18 Dec 2012
Messages
17,624
Location
Another planet...
At Huddersfield, only Platform 2 regularly sees 2-car formations. P1 rarely if ever sees 153s, P3 doesn't exist, both halves of P4 usually only see 2 and 3 car sets. P5 is 153 only and P6 is 3 cars max., now that the Pacers are gone unlikely to return. 7 doesn't exist and 8 can only take a 6-car 185 formation.
 

Doomotron

Member
Joined
25 Jun 2018
Messages
1,173
Location
Kent
Ashford International platform 2 has got stop markers for 2-car Class 171s, although I doubt they've ever been used.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top