On Aug 5, 5:28*pm, wrote:
On Thu, 5 Aug 2010 08:00:24 -0700 (PDT)

bob wrote:
I'm pretty sure the platforms at Paris and Lille are a lot lower than the
ones at St. P.

Unlike Britain, UIC platforms come in a wide variety of heights. *Even
within the same station (or along the length of the same platform
face) you can get a variation in platform height. *Shiny modern

Well there you go then - on crossrail use platforms of a similar height
to St P. which are compatible with UIC and UK stock.

The problem isn't height, though, it's the width of the loading
gauge. UIC loading gauge is 3.15m wide almost all the way down to
track level, while UK loading gauge is 9' (2.74m) at platform height.
This means that the edge of a UIC platform is 0.2m (8") further away
from the track than a UK platform It is likely that this would be
deemed unsafe for people to be expected to step across (consider a
crowded rush hour station, for example).

If we are serious about making the change, the place to start is to
build or modify some UK loading gauge stock with retractable steps
that can be used to bridge the gap to UIC platforms (in the way
Eurostar does). Once all trains on a particular route have such
stock, platforms can be modified. Once all platforms are done, proper
UIC stock can be brought in, and the step equipped stock can be
cascaded to another route to be converted.

Robin