From: ahk@chinet.com   
      
   Stephen Sprunk  wrote:   
   >On 11-Apr-15 11:08, Adam H. Kerman wrote:   
   >>Stephen Sprunk  wrote:   
   >>>On 11-Apr-15 08:36, Adam H. Kerman wrote:   
      
   >>>>CTA discourages passengers from changing cars once they're on   
   >>>>board.   
      
   >>>>I agree in part and disagree in part. Platforms should be sized   
   >>>>for expected boarding at the station, not the longest train.   
   >>>>Passengers should be in the car with the doors that will open.   
      
   >>>... but when you combine that with the above, that means passengers   
   >>>are supposed to know _when they board_ what cars will allow them to   
   >>>exit at the destination.  That isn't an issue for daily commuters,   
   >>>but how are tourists or occasional riders supposed to know this?   
   >>>It's simpler and more passenger-friendly to make all your platforms   
   >>>as long as the longest train that stops there.   
      
   >>I'm trying to reduce station construction costs on your railroad.   
      
   >Platform height/length has a negligible impact on cost, compared to all   
   >the other (much larger) station expenses that aren't affected at all.   
      
   Platforms are hideously expensive. Metra has had standard-height platform   
   replacement projects over the last several years, and they take an amazing   
   13 weeks under traffic.   
      
   The B&B crews on Metra Electric might do the job faster than that, perhaps.   
      
   >DART raised every platform on the Red and Blue lines for <$100k/ea, in   
   >less than a year.  Extending the short at-grade platforms would be a   
   >similarly trivial exercise.   
      
   Did you have the luxury of no curves at the station location? Again,   
   that doesn't describe every single railroad location at which a   
   station might be desireable.   
      
   >>On Metra, they expect passengers to follow instructions. There are   
   >>announcements with regard to which doors will open and which car the   
   >>passengers must be in to get off the train.   
      
   >Do they announce that at every station where you board, so that you know   
   >which car to get on?  Or do they expect you to hear the announcement on   
   >board and change cars at an intermediate station with a long platform?   
      
   Neither. They're ordinary railroad cars with train doors and diaphrams,   
   so passengers walk from one to the next. It's safe to do between stations   
   while the train is in motion as long as you watch the step on the threshold   
   if the train is on a curve.   
      
   They make the announcement before the affected station. In a few locations,   
   one platform in one direction is shorter than the other platform due to   
   industrial leads. It's not practical to have full-length platforms   
   everywhere for a variety of reasons.   
      
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