Platform gap
These spaces are caused by the geometric gap between a curve (circular arc or otherwise) and the straight-line chord or tangent formed by a railcar or bus in proximity to a platform.
These types of gaps are geometrically intrinsic, and cannot be eliminated as long as the platform is located on a curved or banked segment of track or guideway.
They may be found on modern trainsets, like various versions of the Stadler GTW[failed verification] and the British Rail Class 555 for the Tyne and Wear Metro.
This situation may occur especially when previously separate rail systems are consolidated, or start to interoperate, thus allowing equipment to be moved onto tracks where it had not been used before.
[3]: 15 Higher pass-through speeds also increase railcar sway, requiring even larger physical clearances to avoid platform strikes.
[3]: 28–34 The MTA Long Island Rail Road website lists some precautions passengers should observe regarding platform gaps.
[9] An article in The Guardian conceded that some passengers who have fallen into platform gaps were drunk at the time, but pointed out other incidents when victims did not have that impairment.
The writer complained specifically about gaps that measured from 46 to 51 centimetres (18 to 20 in) which posed safety threats to children and the elderly, and called for modification of dangerous platforms.
[2] He criticised London's Crossrail project's "poor decision making" which set new inner-city station floor heights on the Elizabeth line at train floor level, while outer suburban platforms remained at their pre-existing height, about 200mm lower: "This brand-new railway has cornered itself into perpetually offering an inaccessible service.
[11] In 2014, a news service in Mumbai, India reported several serious platform gap mutilation incidents and a death within a few months, mostly attributed to crowded conditions.
[4] In 2014 in Perth, Australia, an accident occurred when a man fell between the platform and the train, and could not release his leg because the gap was too small.
