Railway Station Planning

Station Planning

The Objectives in Station Planning

In planning any station the following objectives need to be kept very much in mind:

•Attractiveness in appearance.

•Free movement of passengers.

•Safe evacuation in emergency.

•Access for the disabled.

•Access for emergency services.

•Safe accumulation and dispersal of crowds.

•Reliable operation of train service.

•Resilience to failure.

•Cost-effective investment.

Planning for Normal Operation

The degree to which the business is prepared to invest in providing space purely for the added comfort of passengers must be decided by each railway system based on its own market position and objectives.

The starting point for any station planning is the demand forecast. This must be accompanied by a detailed knowledge of the likely train frequency from each platform and the time staff would need to take action when problems arise. Given working assumptions, it is then possible to determine

how many people are likely to have accumulated within a particular area before control measures can be instituted.

The operator must determine his own relative values for key variables which combine to determine the minimum size and capacity for any element of a station.

These will include:

•time needed to become aware of a problem.

•staff reaction and decision time.

•action implementation time.

•accumulation rate for passengers.

•maximum density for safety.

The frequency and destination pattern of the train service is also a key factor in the sizing of station infrastructure. Assuming, for instance, that the total staff reaction time is effectively five minutes and that the normal peak service is at five minute intervals, capacity at the platform must allow for at least twice the normal numbers expected in the peak.

Capacity Requirements

It is recommended that the following limits should be applied to station areas for demand levels under normal peak conditions:

Platforms, ticket halls and concourses - 0.8 sqm per person Passageways

•one way - 50 persons per minute/m width

•two way- 40 persons per minute/m width Fixed Stairways

•one way - 35 persons per minute/m width

•two way- 28 persons per minute/m width

To allow for ?peaks withinlated peak peak'fifteen-minute itflow is wi figure, which can be derived from the one-hour figure by multiplying by 0.3.

Similarly the peak five-minute flow figure can be derived by multiplying the fifteen-minute figure by 0.4. This five-minute figure should be used when testing the layout ensure that dangerous situations do not occur during the short lived period when crowding exceeds desirable levels at a restricted localised point.

The capacity of entrances and exits to street level should follow the guidelines above. From subsurface ticket halls/concourse areas there should be at least two exits to the street each of which must be able to take the full peak level demand albeit under crowded conditions.

Locations which are fed by exits from stations need to be examined to ensure that no bottle-necks exist immediately outside station buildings.

This is particularly important where stations exit into Local Authority subways, shopping malls or where sporting events are likely to produce ?tidal wave'ing. crowd