Student99
Active Member
(For anyone else not familiar with "alighting", it means "to descend from a train, bus, or other form of transportation")Also, one of the flow patterns I'd like to see is one platform used exclusively for boarding while another is used exclusively for alighting. In this setup, the existing Platform 3 would be for boarding WB, while a new Platform 4 would be used exclusively for EB and WB alighting. A new Platform 5 would be used exclusively for EB boardings.
If GO wants to reduce dwell times at Union, having non-conflicting passenger flows would speed things up immensely.
It used to be like this actually not that long ago. Maybe as short as two years ago? They would only display ONE platform on the screens for people to board. Then, when trains arrived, train doors would open first on the opposite platform and people could get off the train. After a delay for people to de-train, the posted platform doors would open and people could board.
I believe two-platform boarding was instituted at Union to cut down on platform crowding. There was a death after someone's backpack got hooked by a train and he got pulled under; I think crowding may have contributed.
In any case, the way it is now actually doesn't seem to have affected flow all that much, from my experience. When de-training, the crowds on the platforms make way pretty quickly and it's generally not too difficult to make your way.
The only problems tend to be where there are double tracks beside each other, and so only one platform for both boarding and disembarking. Crowding there is still quite intense. I think platforms 3 (though 3 is not too problematic- it's wide), 4, and one of the 20-odd ones fall into this category.