Mind the gap!

[VectraMan]

And 150 years ago they didn't have digital signs on the platforms giving you accurate information about the arrival time of your train.

And we still don't.

[Spacecadet]

And 150 years ago they didn't have digital signs on the platforms giving you accurate information about the arrival time of your train.

And we still don't.

They didn't have live train times available on their mobiles either

[centurian]

Are platforms curved then? I can't think of any that I use that aren't straight.

Bank - Central Line

One of the worst - possibly where "Mind the Gap" originated from.

The curve is so bad that if you are at one end of the platform, you can't see the other end

[NickFitz]

Bank - Central Line

One of the worst - possibly where "Mind the Gap" originated from.

The curve is so bad that if you are at one end of the platform, you can't see the other end

Same with the northbound Northern Line platform at Embankment, because it used to be part of a big loop: The Northern Line tunnel – bombed and flooded in 1940 – and still sealed shut

[Gonzo]

Bank - Central Line

One of the worst - possibly where "Mind the Gap" originated from.

The curve is so bad that if you are at one end of the platform, you can't see the other end

I'm not an engineer so I don't appreciate all the details but I had it in my mind for some reason that because Bank station is so far below sea level it wasn't possible to do 'straight'.

But the Northern line platform is below the Central Line one, and that is straight.

The DLR platform is even further below and that is straight too.

So what is the explanation?

[NickFitz]

I'm not an engineer so I don't appreciate all the details but I had it in my mind for some reason that because Bank station is so far below sea level it wasn't possible to do 'straight'.

But the Northern line platform is below the Central Line one, and that is straight.

The DLR platform is even further below and that is straight too.

So what is the explanation?

If you look on this map showing the actual course of the lines, you'll see that the Central line turns sharply northwards at Bank (eastbound), whereas the other lines are running pretty straight.

[d000hg]

I'm not an engineer so I don't appreciate all the details but I had it in my mind for some reason that because Bank station is so far below sea level it wasn't possible to do 'straight'.

But the Northern line platform is below the Central Line one, and that is straight.

The DLR platform is even further below and that is straight too.

So what is the explanation?

I imagine when they were digging the tunnels - imagine what that must have been like without our modern equipment - the extra work/digging to make the line straight at the station was not considered worth it.

[Freamon]

Hang on, she says she measured the gap at 46 to 51cm, 18" to 20" in old money, that is huge.

A gap big enough to put a foot in is a hazard, one an adult can fall through is ridiculous. It wouldn't take much to solve this, I like the idea of the automatic plate someone mentioned.

The NYC subway has automatic plates that slide out to bridge the gap between platform and train, in at least one station where the curve of the platform is particularly steep (and therefore the gap particularly wide):

[OwlHoot]

The NYC subway has automatic plates that slide out to bridge the gap between platform and train, ..

Great, so after falling through the gap the hapless passenger is chopped in half while they struggle to climb back up

Surely the simplest and safest system, if it could be made practical, would be a row of inverted "bellows" fixed along the top of the track side wall that could be inflated by compressed air in a couple of seconds, and deflated just as fast, to fill the gap with a cushion. You could use even the momentum of the incoming train in some way to power them while braking the train at the same time.

[Freamon]

Great, so after falling through the gap the hapless passenger is chopped in half while they struggle to climb back up

Surely the simplest and safest system, if it could be made practical, would be a row of inverted "bellows" fixed along the top of the track side wall that could be inflated by compressed air in a couple of seconds, and deflated just as fast, to fill the gap with a cushion. You could use even the momentum of the incoming train in some way to power them while braking the train at the same time.

You're right, that does sound very simple.