Why do station......
 

......platforms have sloping ends?

As asked today by my 12 year old son, and I couldn't give him a good answer.

Is it that if you were wandering along the platform at night in the dark and reached the end, you wouldnt just drop off into space :D But why not put a fence across the end of the platform?

Or was it so station staff could routinely cross from one platform to another using a barrow-crossing?


(Oops, I have just realised I put this in the wrong section. I hope a Moderator dosn't delete my Account as punishment :D :D)

I can't delete your account but I can move your thread to this section where it might get better exposure.:D

Incidentally it's a good question and one I would like to know the answer to also. In mainland Europe many platforms (even modern ones) don't have ramps at their ends.

I think the barrow crossing idea is valid but why do stations without crossings still have ramps?

Could the ramps be for the benefit of lengthsmen when they were checking their sections of track. It wouldn't be safe for them to walk through a station in the "six foot" so they would have to use the platforms. Just an idea?:)

How about another wild idea ? If things were hanging from a train they would be swept up onto the platform instead of being smashed against an end ? Maybe I'm daft.

What sort of things?:eek:

I would have thought that it would have been for station or track staff. But Im not exactly sure why they have them.

I always thought that it was a combination of the two reasons that Shed Cat originally proposed; to stop people falling off in the dark and to make it easier to transport stuff across the tracks.

And if you were trainspotting in the snow, then you could always amuse yourself by making a slide when the passing traffic was quiet!

I reckon the barrow idea is the best so far. platelayers and porters alike would appreciate these ramps as would wheelchair passengers on some stations.
the old newhaven town station had ramps both ends of both platforms. in the the centre section of the platform were footholds for the porters crossing the track to the booking office. also had an interesting sign to the effect that" to touch the live rail means death, survivors will be prosecuted" LOL

My near by station Gatley, on the Style loop line has just had its platforms rebuilt without the slopping ramps, the platforms now just end abruptly with a set steps leading down to track level, the end of the platform is fenced off with a padlocked gate stopping you going down the steps. I don’t understand why it’s padlocked.

Ivan.

It's probably some Health & Safety regulation Ivan. Having the gate padlocked probably clears Network Rail of any resposibility if a member of the public decided to go through the gate and got injured. It's irrelevant that you could just climb down onto the track and bypass the gate if you really wanted to.