In article , Stephen
Furley writes


Hi Steve

This may be true of the existing ones, but I don't think it would be too
difficult to design ones which were usable by passengers in wheelchairs. On
systems such at the DLR and Croydon Tramlink the position of the vehicle
relative the the platform edge is controlled very closely, both horizontally
and vertically, and wheelchairs can easily get on and off.


I fail to see how a train can adjust its' position horizontally relative
to the platform edge. It's on rails. To do that you would need a very
clever bit of mechanics to do the movement, then go back to the standard
position before the train could move off. Far easier to do what has been
done on the JLE and get the platforms etc right first time. I don't
doubt that the technology is available - but would it work in reality.

If track and or platform hights on other systems were adjusted to elininate
the step, then a gap filler could reduce the gap which is inevitable at
curved platforms to one of a centimetre or two, which a wheelchair is
capable of crossing. With a bit of thought it would probably be possible to
design a gap filler that could tilt as it extended to form a ramp if the
platform was not quite level with the train floor.

Such a system may not be ideal, but I believe it could enable passengers in
wheelchairs to get on and off trains at somewhere like Bank Central line,
where it is difficult to see how it could be done otherwise, other than by
total reconstruction of the station, on a new site.

I agree with what you are saying but it would mean clever engineering
and the train stopping in exactly the right place every time for the gap
fillers to work properly.

Far easier to get it right at the design stage rather than retro fit.
Unfortunately for LU, that's 100 years late......
--
Andrew
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