On Sat, 13 Dec 2008 06:07:10 -0800 (PST), Mizter T
wrote:


On 13 Dec, 08:38, sweek wrote:
It is switched on and it still seems to be causing quite a few
problems. I may be wrong here but are the gates working in both
directions at the same time? That's what it looked like the last few
days to me. They really need to make sure that people from 17/18 exit
via platform 19 as we almost didn't make our trains due to the high
number of people trying to get off via the small number of gates at
17/18.

No standard gates that I've ever come across are bi-directional at the
same time - that would cause a total nightmare with people walking
head-first into each other all the time! Instead gates can simply be
switched from one direction to the other as required by traffic flow.

I think we need to be careful about definitions here given some of the
other comments. Gate aisles can be configured to be permanently set for
entry or exit while others have the ability to be both. On the air
gates on LU this meant they had 4 paddles while with the electric gates
they simply adjust their position but use 2 paddles. For rail
applications in the UK I am not aware of any standard width gate that
works on the basis of "first come, first served" in that it can be entry
or exit depending on which ticket transport / card reader is activated
first.

As Barry S has correctly pointed out the new wide aisle gates can
operate in this way but then they are typically lower use than the
normal gates and so this is permissible as well as sensible given they
have replaced manual gates.

The only place I have seen using "first come, first served" is the New
York Subway but it should be remembered that as it is flat fare
validation (or swiping) only occurs on entry. The aisles are controlled
by turnstiles rather than paddle style gates so they work in a similar
fashion to the turnstiles governing entry to Network Rail toilets at
main stations. It's a long while since I used the subway but I have
used it in the peak and it's not easy to get out if the predominant flow
is entry!

In Tokyo they have two person per aisle gates which means there are two
sets of paddles at either end of the longer stanchions. One person can
be exiting while another person is entering behind them. I think you can
get about 60 people per minute through a walkway which is needed for the
vast volumes of people that Tokyo's railways handle.

I can't believe for a second that SWT have specified or would use the
gates at Waterloo in "first come, first served" mode as it would be
chaos. They've got one heck of a learning curve to deal with anyway
with such a large array and such huge volumes of people. The other
interesting factor will be the peak hour subway and their cunning plan
to shove everyone through an undercroft to reach a gate array that might
cope with the volumes. I can see that being a big challenge for them to
get right - especially if the train service falls over and they get huge
surges of people.

--
Paul C