The Lost Art of Cross-Platform Transfers
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- Опубліковано 2 лис 2022
- Cross-platform transfers are awesome because they put people at the centre of the transit. However, this feature is less and less found in new transit projects, as we pivot towards the "easier" solution. This is why that's a bad idea.
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Ever wondered why your city's transit just doesn't seem quite up to snuff? RMTransit is here to answer that, and help you open your eyes to all of the different public transportation systems around the world!
Reece (the RM in RMTransit) is an urbanist and public transport critic residing in Toronto, Canada, with the goal of helping the world become more connected through metros, trams, buses, high-speed trains, and all other transport modes.
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With November and December come colder weather (in the northern hemisphere) and a lot more holidays, so we will be releasing some bonus videos over the next two months! This should be more sustainable than the “12 Days of Transit” we did last year and means more spaced out content! Enjoy!
Can you do a video on another transit in Asia other than China, Japan, Singapore or Taiwan?
I love the way the transfer is done on the evergreen line and expo line in Vancouver on the Skytrain, you literally get off and wait for the next train right where you step off.
Why don't you ever talk about Europe? You only talk about England when Europe comes up..
@@szaboattila9024 Didn't he mention Paris?
Can you do a video about the world's longest passenger train which is in Switzerland?
I miss these so much from my time in Hong Kong and Taipei. I had one on my commute to work in Taiwan.
There's nothing quite like a well-timed cross-platform transfer that makes you think, "yes, this is how things are supposed to work." I'm disappointed to hear that these are becoming less common. I had no idea they were so rare, to be honest.
Yes, the feeling of a cross platform transfer is so much better than walking around, missing a train, and having to wait for the next train. Even with high frequencies.
They require extra thought and care, something which sadly seems to have left the space in my places
Meanwhile in Singapore I've seen connecting trains depart just as another train (that's carrying the passengers that want to make the transfer) arrives, & 2 or 3 of the latter can arrive before the next connecting train arrives, causing platform overcrowding. Its worst at _Tanah Merah_ station where your conencting train (to the airport) runs only once every 12min (& last time our display screens that tell you how far away your next train was would sneakily go blank if your next train was more than 6min away, apparently in response to a commuter who complained of long wait times after seeing such a display once)
My wife (a disabled Canadian citizen PR in the US) and I enjoy your channel immensely. My wife has served on Trimet’s Committee for Accessible Transit for many years and we are both transit enthusiasts.
What does "citizen PR" mean? Never saw this phrase
@@hopin8krzys PR means permanent residence i think
@@Nabee_H makes sense, thanks
That’s wonderful to hear! Thanks for watching!
@@hopin8krzys "citizen" and "PR" are two different things so I think they are saying a citizen of Canada and a permanent resident in the US.
as a hong konger, I must say cross platform interchanges are extremely useful, especially during rush hours. I especially love the ones at prince Edward, mong kok and lai king.
edit: changed hker to hong konger because 3 people think i'm a hiker
Haha, I misread that as "hiker" and thought "what does that have to do with anything?"
I also misread it as hiker
It was such a shame that they went the lazy route and didn't make a cross platform transfer at Hung Hum, Diamond Hill, Ho Man Tin, and Hong Kong-Central Station
Some station can't use cross platform transfer because various reasons, such as the two lines not being parallel enough (like Ho Man Tin where the two lines are perpendicular), to far away from each other, built by different company (like Mei Foo and Kowloon Tong) and most probably: Money
@@HMSNeptun especially since Hung Hom used to be a cross-platform transfer.
NYC has tons of these from express to local, but 7th Avenue on the B/D/E lines is unique as the trains come in in opposite directions on stacked platforms (53rd Street is too narrow for side by side platforms), but one platform can serve downtown since both trains turn downtown after that station (on different corridors), while the other platform is “uptown/Queens” since the B/D go up along Central Park West, while the E goes straight across town and across the river into Queens.
I'm glad to see Lionel-Groulx mentioned here. It's an absolute joy to run across when the trains are perfectly timed (doesn't happen often enough).
In New York, we have these, but mostly between express and local services. There are also a few true cross platform transfers between entirely different lines (e.g. Lexington Ave/63rd St, Queensboro Plaza). I go through Queensboro Plaza quite a bit, and more often than not, they hold trains in the station so you don't miss your transfer. Quite a few times I've been able to walk off my first train, straight across the platform, and onto the next train. Wayyy easier than the amount of walking you have to do at other stations for a transfer.
63rd St is a fascinating example, because they built the cross-platform transfer back in the 70s… and then hid it behind a wall, waiting for someone to finally build the Second Avenue Subway!
(And at the same time they also built a second tunnel below the F… which finally comes into passenger service next month.)
Also 7 Av on the B, D, and E is a good example with possible cross-platform transfers, or at most 1 small flight of stairs
don't forget queens plaza, where i recently walked straight out of a WTC bound E train into a Bay Ridge bound R train
What I love about Queensboro Plaza is that it's the only place with a BMT/IRT cross-platform transfer - a legacy of the Dual Contracts. The only other place you can put an IRT car on BMT/IND tracks is at Livonia Ave (L) and Junius St (3), but that requires a non-electric locomotive.
In the Swedish metro we almost only have cross-platform. It's great. And the solution you mentioned in Singapore and Hong Kong has been in Stockholm since 1933, between the T-central, Gamla stan and Slussen train stations (between which the tracks of the red and green lines re-arrange themselves multiple times to allow for easy change between multiple lines and directions).
Basically this is why Lai King Station in Hong Kong is truely unique.
Before the Lantau Airport Railway came along, the old Tsuen Wan Line had an island platform. It was later retrofitted that a new platform level was built above the old island platform and the Tsuen Wan Line was re-routed to create a same direction cross-platform transfer.
Back then the Tung Chung Line also acts as a relief line for Tsuen Wan Line as it can reach Central/Hong Kong Station quicker, thanks to fewer intermediate stops and higher top speeds the A-trains can boast.
Didn't expect you to be a transit enthu as well (I am the very cringe name of bigexplosion333 on wows blitz. I definitely didn't made up desperately on the spot in the middle of a crowded train station)
Also mentioning Lai King (+mention of Victoria Line reconstruction) reminds me I wish SG LTA was more daring in the works, they seem too afraid to do anything that changes radically even if it is for the better, eg: the construction of DTL Tampines could have been done closer to the EWL side whilst at the same time upgrading the old bus interchange
Couldn’t agree more! It’s my favorite!
Lai King is also amazing in the fact that the two lines’ trains are timed to wait for up to a minute if necessary so that people can interchange - I’ve never seen this at any other station or even system worldwide.
@@seanbarry7196 It is also partly due to the fact that Tung Chung Line trains need to wait for signal clearance on the Lantau Link section, so this is usually done at Lai King rather than Tsing Yi
I also enjoy the view out of Lai King Station - from a tunnel you emerge into open air with busy roads both below and above you and spectacular views of the container terminal and industrial buildings. On Tung Chung Line this is quickly followed by a glimpse of an old cemetery before gracefully crossing the Lambeth Channel with road bridges on both sides, then sliding into Tsing Yi Station.
Speaking of Hong Kong, Exhibition Centre Station on the East Rail Line extension is built with provisions for cross-platform interchange with the future North Island Line, intertwining tunnels included, even though the latter is still in the planning stage.
Coincidentally my profile picture was taken at one of the interchange platforms - Sunny Bay Station westbound.
Switching between the red and green lines on the Stockholm Metro/T-bana is great! It has cross platform transfers, and and similarly as to in Singapore, you can switch to either line in either direction at two different stations.
Yes
We have a lot of cross platform transfers in NYC, but many more rely on passageways, escalators and elevators mostly due to the fact that the NYC subway system was built by individual companies that didn't have transfers in mind.
Yes the Cross Platform Transfers at Admiralty Station, Prince Edward Station, North Point Station, etc on the Hong Kong MTR are awesome! Thank you for making a video on this!
And thank you for watching!
Totally agree. The cross platform change between the Bakerloo and the Victoria line is a real time saver at Oxford Circus.
Victoria line was built with x-platform interchanges prioritised as it was intended to relieve overcrowding without much expansion of the original stations possible, particularly where it shadows the Piccadilly line from Finsbury to Green Park
@@dancrooksycamore And the Elizabeth Line was built to releave congestion on the Circle,H&C and Central Lines
@@heidirabenau511 The problem with the Liz Line though is that although it’s quicker the interchange between other lines is too long.
For example, the amount of time it takes to walk to the liz line platform from a jubilee line platform at Bond Street puts me off taking the liz line instead of central if I want to travel a few stops
@@PeteS_1994 The key thing, with Crossrail, is to work out what door you need to exit at and:
• Walk part of the way to that door, while waiting for your traiin and
• Walk as much of the rest of the way, while on the train.
If you do that, then the waiting time and travelling time counts against the walking time, at the other end.
@@PeteS_1994 Yes, the snag seems to be that the Elizabeth Line is so deep. With the long escalators, you end up with stations that span 2 other stations or nearly so; Liverpool Street/Moorgate, Farringdon/Barbican, Bond Street/Oxford Circus (short above ground walk for the latter).
I absolutely love how you make seemingly “boring” subjects in the already rather sterile and abstract field of transit incredibly interesting
Cross platform transfers can be amazing and can save a ton of walking/time. Saving time is everything with a successful metro and should be a major emphasis (including walking time) for designers. Cross platform stations being shorter are also much cheaper to construct. That being said though...cross platform transfers are a bit trickier to develop especially with high frequency lines. They will require either an at-grade crossing for each line (twice) or expensive bridges/tunnels with some hill climbing. Ideally metro lines don't cross each other that often...as it creates complications for signalling/safety/speed/automation. A somewhat related topic you might bring up in another video are better ways of letting passengers cross tracks in single line stations. If my north bound lane has an east exit, but I need to get to the west end of the station, I typically need to walk in a huge circuitous route with most modern stations. Honestly suburban commute lines could actually let passengers use a cross walk at-grade to save a ton of walking time.
Well, the answer is simply flyovers!
This is all the kind of thing Reece is talking about when he says that the engineering is driving the line design, not user experience.
Actually some netizens in my country had argued against cross-platform transfers as the reduced distance that passengers have to walk as a result also means less room for them to spread out. However the alternative of vertical circulation between lines will create additional bottlenecks in the form of queues at escalators though
You Are So Right! ... and you're also right about cross-platform transfers somehow falling out of fashion. I've seen justifications for this like: (1) it's better to make people walk around long tunnels/escalators etc. as too many people hanging around can cause crowd problems, or (2) you need extra staff to check if passengers are rushing across the platform to join a train which needs to leave, or even (3) it can cause delays when trains have to be held for transferring passengers. But there's an excellent XPT at Poplar near the centre of London's DLR where all the trains are automatically controlled by computers - and there are - apparently - no problems.
The worst new fashion is when designers of new lines describe the non-provision of XPTs as 'for the convenience of passengers' - e.g. at the new(-ish) London Bridge main-line station, or everywhere on the Elizabeth line (except at Stratford, where there was an XPT already with the Central line).
Everyone's favorite transit sh*tshow, Boston, actually has a cross platform transfer at North Station between the green and orange lines heading toward downtown. Its very seamless, and interesting to see a metro and a "light" rail system do a cross-platform transfer. More interesting, they ended up building it during the big dig when they were moving the green line below grade.
As someone from DC I feel offended that we are not the biggest transit sh*tshow instead.
I really like the cross-plattform transfer between the S-Bahn city tunnel and U7 in Frankfurt as it provides really easy interconnectivity of the region, airport and city (but mostly because it's in my home city)
Yep! I’ve used that one and it’s excellent!
As an aside, this also applies to the U6 due to sharing tracks (line C).
Admittingly, the power of the transfer doesn't get too useful when you consider that with the creation of the Nordmainsche S-Bahn, a direction S-Bahn connection will be added to the eastern station so the only useful interchange is between the S-Bahn and Enkheim. The only exception would be an extension to Oberrad but for that (given the potential low demand), an S-Bahn stop could be added instead (it used exist for that matter) or as an express service for the tram on the Hanauer Landstraße which wouldn't be that viable either, given the potential demand (or lack thereof), I think (admittingly, it is on an industrial zone but I still think the tram is sufficient).
Edit: Admittingly for Oberrad, the U-Bahn would have the advantage that it would go further inside than the S-Bahn does but still.
In HK MTR, the newest opened station - Exhibition Centrer Station of the East Rail Line is actually build with two level side platforms at the moment to reserve space for future cross platform transfer with the Tseung Kwan O Line (North Island Line). Cross Platform Transfer is still a concept to be adopt in Hong Kong, even for future projects! :D
Anyway this is a good video and thanks to mention about HK MTR! :)
Too bad they didn't at Hung Hom, where there used to be one.
Once again wonderful comments section I feel compelled to brag/point out that Chicago has many cross-platform transfers!! :) and I can attest to the fact that they are wonderful!! :)
In Malaysia, there are cross-platform transfer between the Kajang and Putrajaya MRT lines at 2 stations:
-Kwasa Damansara
-Tun Razak Exchange
Also, Putra Heights station is also cross-platform transfer between Sri Petaling and Kelana Jaya LRT lines. Putra Heights station is also the southern terminus of both lines
These are in Klang Valley (Selangor+Kuala Lumpur+Putrajaya)
The Elizabeth Line is an interesting case. There's quite a lot of good transfers on the western and eastern sections, where they use existing tracks and so run alongside other services, but in the central core they are non-existent. I suspect this is because the line had to be dug a lot deeper than the Central line and most of the other lines, and many of them cross at right-angles. The Elizabeth line would have had to have been very wiggly to make that happen. I think, basically, as a network gets denser, with more criss-crossing of lines, it becomes harder and harder to make cross platform transfers work.
Also the size difference between the systems would make cross platform interchanges quite difficult as the tube platforms are half the length 😅
@@danielboulton98 Yeah there's that too!
@@danielboulton98 Actually I was thinking that if cross-platform interchanges were foregone on the Victoria line, it could've used a larger loading gauge & rolling stock as it wouldn't have to fit into older lines' tunnels & platforms (which it had to take over to enable such interchanges)
Long Island Rail Road at Jamaica Station, NY uses three tracks to make some cross platform transfers work. Tracks 1 and 2 share an island platform and tracks 2 & 3 share an island platform. So if you arrive on track one and are departing from track 3, you wait for a train to pull into platform 2 and walk across through it to the other platform.
They are pushing Brooklyn trains over to platform F so it's ruined for us when Grand Central Terminal expansion opens.
The Netherlands actually has whole timetables built around cross platform transfers: for example the Intercity service from Rotterdam to Groningen has a cross platform transfer from the local trains from The Hague/Rotterdam at Gouda. At Utrecht Central there's a cross platform transfer from the IC from The Hague, at Amersfoort Central onto the IC to Deventer and at Zwolle onto the IC to Leeuwarden. Similarly the IC services from The Hague and Schiphol to Amersfoort Schothorst / Enschede alternate destinations, offering a direct train hourly and a cross platform transfer in Amersfoort at the other half hour for the same trip.
I am a daily public transport user in Kuala Lumpur and are so used to line transfers by going up and down escalators and never ending pedestrian tunnels. Transfers are an absolute nightmare especially during the morning/evening rush hour. Recently I tried the newly launched MRT Putrajaya Line and it allows super easy, cross platform transfer with the older MRT Kajang Line at Kwasa station. I was plesantly surprised at how convinient this was for my body and mind.... Hope my city can take inspiration from our neighbors down south and across the world for a more people-friendly public transport system.
I can agree with this, especially when changing mode between different modes of transit like LRT and KTM
But at Masjid Jamek, those are even more nightmare. A really long walk to change from SP/A to KJ line
Don’t get me started when you went to the wrong platform for SP/A line…. Literally have to go down, all the way to underground and go back up to get to the other platform. Or tap out, crossing a busy road, and tap in again
@@ScotyChokeymasjid jamek and KL Sentral LRT to Monorail is probably my most nightmarish rush hour activity 😅
@@suhandatanker gotta say I really want to avoid LRT Kelana Jaya on certain time
@@ScotyChokey Rush hour KL Sentral without the platform screen doors makes me nervous as hell, luckily people are at least disciplined but falling in there is not gonna be great ..
@@suhandatanker oh yea that, I hope one day they install PSD on elevated stations in future tho
6:50 probably because it already existed and was part of the Shenfield service that the Elizabeth line took over.
Custom House however should’ve had one and not that stupid double ticket pad system for changing from Elizabeth line to DLR. They could have tried at Abbey Wood but fair enough that’s harder if you want to also do turnarounds with the trains. The core section also pretty tricky but Custom House should’ve had a cross-platform interchange
there are a lot of great cross platform transfers in the nyc subway. ac to f in jay st, ac to g hoyt schermerhorn, q to f in lex63, 23 to 45 in nevins st, e to bd in 7 av 53 st, qb to r in dekalb ave, 7 to nw in queensboro plaza, almost all express - local transfers
Yes, Lionel-Groulx is a great example of a cross-platform transfer that works effectively. I wouldn't however give credit to the planners for that reason. The Green line (and Orange line as well) were extended in the '70s, and it is important to understand the history and topography of Montreal that led to this design. The Green Line used to end at Atwater, and there was a tunnel segment used for switching empty trains between the two tracks that extended beyond the station. The Green Line was on a hill (Mount Royal) whereas the Orange Line was at a lower elevation. They re-dug the crossover extension to start the descent as an immediate turn to the left would not be possible (or at least not at an acceptable grade), as well as Westmount towers would need to be dug under which was not viable.
Next time you are in Atwater station, take a look at the tunnel in the direction of Lionel-Groulx and you will see that while the track descends, the roof of the tunnel remains high for some distance (at least 500' of train length, plus some more for switches). An artifact that doesn't make much sense unless you know the history.
That’s really interesting, i’ll check next time I’m at atwater
Thanks C for the great camera and editing work!
I might have said this earlier, but a video about the Frankfurt U-Bahn would be interesting. It feels more like an aboveground-train network, but the U-Bahn has some interesting elements, such as the U6 and U7 lines going directly along the S-Bahn tracks underground in the core of the city (Hauptwache-Konstablerwache). It is also interesting because initially on its development, they called it a Stadtbahn but became collectively known as a U-Bahn when they added more underground lines. Another thing interesting is the way they can integrate four lines (U1-U3, U8) into one central corridor, and that the U5 partially runs along a road (like a Tram) while still going underground. (They still managed to get level boarding on the stations along the road!) Another fact (I know there is a lot of them) is that the U3 line used to be a Tram line going all the way up to its existing terminus at Oberursel Hohemark! (The Frankfurt Tram network has now reached its 151st anniversary :) - so I really think that the Frankfurt U-Bahn (Ahem.. Stadtbahn) is really worth a look!
That is very common in the German speaking world tho, subway in the city centre and street-running as classic tram further out
What I think is unique about it as well, is that it uses 100m fully walk-through light rails trains. Something that would be great to see on the kind of regional light rails system you see in north America.
Great feature. Great video about it. And great lighting too! Your style keeps getting better!
Yes to think the Victoria line built during the 1960s with its cross platform interchanges tunnels roll over each other to achieve this and no computers or laser levels and after all the tunnelling of the first section Walthamstow to Victoria they were only 2.5 CMs out when the sections joined up and all that automation too it was exactly on year late but considering the time not bad going at all
I think I read this before, but while Hamburg in Germany might by all accounts have quite a lacking metro system for its size, it does cross platform transfers really well. They are timed, too, so both trains enter and leave at the same time so you can switch both ways. This is mostly utilized for passengers to enter/exit the central metro (or U-Bahn) ring line. The lines that cross it often have cross platform transfers with it. And the new line U5 that that is under construction will add at least two more cross platform transfers with other lines.
Yes! I am not personally making the cross platform change but I go through one of those stations daily and it is *very* rare for only one of the two trains to be at the platform. They also depart in sync which is quite fun to watch as the trains start going their separate ways while matching speed.
bruh this entire channel is so important. Watching his videos get better and better each time is so exciting
I love that you mentioned Lionel-Groulx! It's my favorite station by far in the Montréal Métro, for many reasons but being cross-platform is one of them :)
NYC subway has many cross platform transfers for people coming from different parts outside of Manhattan to switch to which line they want for Manhattan's core.
(Ex. If you are coming from Coney Island, Brooklyn those trains go sixth ave in Manhattan, but if you want to go up Eighth ave you can change to that train (which came from Euclid Ave, Brooklyn) in Downtown Brooklyn. Those trains do meet again in the core of the city but since there's several other lines, you'd have to navigate through the stations a bit or a lot.
Great video and explanations! What I particularly liked about this video was the focus on planning rather than just technology to solve problems.
I used the cross-train and cross-platform at Stratford today on the first day of through running of Crossrail. I entered from the outside westbound tube platform where the train was stationary with the doors on both sides open, crossed through the train to the island platform (saving going up and down staircases and the underpass) and boarded a train waiting for Paddington all within 5 seconds. Very convenient indeed.
Building metro on viaducts is still common in India, but we don't have enough cross-platform transfers. In Delhi NCR, we have at Botanical Garden and Anand Vihar only above-ground and Central Secretariat underground.
Inderlok is another example, although the green line actually terminates here so it doesn't have two different lines running parallelly so sure if it counts.
Only other example in Delhi Metro that i can think of where you can hop in from one train to another without having to use underground subway or over bridge to go to different platform is Yamuna Bank, but it's not really two different lines but rather a single line branching in two directions.
@@shivankurchahar7368 In Yamuna Bank, you’ll never not need the underpass. Because cross-platform is towards same direction which trains are already doing.
One of my favorite cross-platform transfer layouts is the Vienna U-bahn Längenfeldgasse station which serves the U4 (high floor / 3rd rail) & U6 (low floor / overhead centenary). The station has 2 island platforms with the U4 using the inner tracks and U6 using the outside tracks. In addition to that, I like how the U4 & U6 lines utilizes the historic Vienna Stadtbahn with its Otto Wagner architecture.
@@kensukefan47 Most people are going to or coming from Meidling Bahnhof, so only the minority actually uses the stairs. And even so, it's still better than some stations
Melbourne's City Loop has cross platform transfers at their stations. For example, you can go from a Caulfield Loop station on the Cranbourne & Pakenham lines, to a station on the Clifton Hill Loop
Your videos are looking great!
The Principio transfer is really cool. If I really wanted to, I could walk from my class on calle Joaquin Mario Lopez to Moncloa at 12:15, take 6 to Principio, walk straight to a southbound 10 to Parque de Atraciones or the zoo and then reverse the trip to Arguelles for my 3:30-although I never did that for various reasons, but I did the trip via Lago instead once or twice by that methodology which is one of the few regrets I have about my time abroad (alongside not hitting up Port Aventura, but no one talks about Walibi Rhone-Alps, which is kind of in the middle of nowhere and they did not offer the Lyon shuttle on opening day, which was weirdly the Wednesday of Holly week, and then they were closed until the weekend-which I still don't understand)
That's what interested me when we visited SG, that they have stations that have cross platforms and realized how that is so convenient for people that needa to transfer to another line quickly. Plus the fact that all of their lines are under one system where you can just enter in the EWL and just tap out again at a NSL station. Meanwhile in some other countries you have to tap out of the current line to enter and tap again to another line.
Hey Reece! That new angle at 2:56 looks great, you should use it more often! It adds some nice depth. Keep up the good work!
From my experiance they do this pretty well in the Netherlands, on my daily commute from Helmond to 's-Hertogenbosch I have to transfer in Eindhoven and on the way back to change trains I have to exit the train, walk to the otherside of the platform and then go on a train that arrives at the same time. And generaly for large transit hubs a platform is used for multiple train lines.
As a North Londoner, I'm blessed with two cross-platform changes on my route to the office, changing at Finsbury Park (Picc to Vic), then again at Highbury & Islington (Vic to National Rail)
not only metro, in Tokyo's JR system, there are lots of cross platform interchange for rapidall stop, along the Yamanote Ring Line and several Metro and JR/private rail Routes.
Btw, MTR's urban line system still as a Legendary of Cross platform interchange.
coz the three urban lines, Island, Kwun Tong and Tsuen Wan are planned together, and the part of system can have "preserved space" for next stage, such as reserved expansion space of station/for next route's expansion like Admiralty before construction work of Island Line, some station for interchange at Early era of Kwun Tong Line, Prince Edward still closed, etc.
I'd love a supercut of every time you said cross-platform transfer in this video..!
I used one all the time, and it was *so* handy - the Bakerloo to Jubilee transfer at Baker Street, making it really easy to get from Paddington to Canary Wharf. Of course, the Elizabeth Line has made that obsolete now, but I always thought of you every time I changed there!
At one time before the Jubilee line was constructed the Bakerloo line split into two branches at Baker Street, so designing in a cross platform interchange was in fact a public service for the benefit of those who (post split) needed to be on the other line's route, especially those coming from stations now serviced by the Jubilee line
I have used that before and it's pretty nice, but the Victoria like is the Queen of cross platform interchanges
Berlin has some great examples for cross-platform transfers, even a station where you can transfer between U-Bahn and S-Bahn on one platform, even though they are non-interoperable systems. But they are still rarer than they should be.
In case anyone asks: The S- and U-Bahn interchange is Wuhletal.
And also very worth to mention as a very recent retrofitting is how Berlin reconstructed the whole S-Bahn infrastructure of stations Warschauer Straße and Ostkreuz during the 2010 years from separate platform per lines into platforms per direction including some flyovers around Ostkreuz. Those works happened while keeping most of the operation alive, that's why it took almost a decade to finish.
In Hannover we have two cross plattform transfer stations after another, one for blue lines to red lines and one for red lines to yellow lines, so if you want to change from blue to yellow you hop on red in between and then it’s all seamless. For such a small system, the Hannover Stadtbahn is very well designed!
Another great transit video. Lionel-Groulx is my favourite Montreal metro station. I go out of my way to transfer there whenever I can. I just wish there was a shopping centre, like Alexis-Nihon at Atwater, so I could pick up my groceries there too. Instead I have to go through a maze of escalators, stairs and hallways to do this at Berri-UQAM.
The Munich U-Bahn takes things one step further where the U2 and U3 meet at Scheidplatz, allowing journeys to two different parts of the city centre. Not only is the interchange cross-platform, but outside peak hours the trains are timed to arrive and depart at the same time so you can just step off one train and straight on to the other. It’s truly a thing of genius and amazing to see in operation.
I love Cross Platform transfers in Hong Kong. From Kowloon Tong to Disneyland, I have cross-platform at Prince Edward, Lai King, and Sunny Bay!
Reece Stratford is not mentioned because it was done 85 years ago with the nationalisation and integration of the Underground. The Elizabeth line branch has had a dozen rebrands over the last 3 decades. If anything the new central core is to relieve overcrowding at the successful cross-platform interchange. Stratford is a sequence of cross-platforms with Mile End and Barrons Court that allows for a level journey to Heathrow with heavy suitcases.
It looks like the new second S-Bahn "Stammstrecke" trunk line in Munich will connect to the original trunk line via cross platform transfers in the stations of Laim and Leuchtenbergring, where the old and the new trunk lines connect on either side of the city center. Trains going in the same direction will share a center platform in each direction. That is a really nice thing to see!
There's a cross-platform transfer in Boston at Kenmore Station on its Green Line between the B branch and the C & D branches, another one at Park Street between the B & C trains and the D & E trains, and another one at North Station between the Orange Line and the Green Line but unfortunately only in one direction.
Saint Petersburg has the oldest cross-platform station in the whole of Russia and former USSR, Tekhnologichesky Institut. It's made of 2 different stations built at different times for different lines, but were later changed into the modern layout of cross-platform interchange, as an experiment. Both stations are about 60 meters under ground btw (like most stations in the system).
Another interesting station in the same network is Sportivnaya, which is currently used by one line, but was designed to be a cross-platform interchange station in the future, with the future circle line at that.
Sydney, Australia also employs cross platform transfers along the outer part of the T1 Western Line and T8 Airport and South Lines, between Local and Express and between routes and branches. Also Central Station built in 1926 was built with cross platform interchanges in mind.
In Hamburg the U-Bahnstation Berliner Tor is a crossplatformstation where you can change between U2 and U3 and every 5 minutes both Drive und at the same time and drive out at the same time-also are all 4 platforms at the same floor
Same in Kellinghusenstraße and I believe Wandsbek-Gartenstadt as well. The simultaneous departures are cool
I always think you should talk about simple systems as well, in London: Poplar, Oxford Circus, and Stockwell achieve cross platform interchange with out any extra flyovers by considering their placement.
(There is a clever thing about breaking built in to these as well; Kennington and Mile end also provide similar good examples were a fly under isn't needed but allows the cross platform interchange)
Canary Wharf DLR is clever but simple in that it puts the normally terminating branch line in the middle Spanish platform pair.
I know of three examples in Sweden, two on the Stockholm metro and one mainline rail. There are cross-platform transfers between the green and red line at Gamla Stan, as well as between branches of the Red line at Liljeholmen.
The mainline rail example comes from platform 3 at Boden Central station in the north, which is used by sleeper trains and regional services going to Luleå enabling passengers to connect to/from trains to Kiruna or Haparanda. Some regional trains from Haparanda even have a timed transfer with southbound trains to Umeå.
Exciting to see you on nebula now!
We only have one cross platform transfer in Bangkok right now at Siam station which is packed with people everyday hope to see more with the many lines under construction.
Same platfrom/track transfer on common sections of less busy multi-route networks can be similarly convenient, although crowding can be more of an issue. London's Victoria Line, planned and constructed in the late 1960s, certainly provided some impressive cross-platform stations, including a switch over of running directions through Euston for a more convenient interchange with the west end branch of the Northern Line. As large networks develop, fitting in easy interchange becomes more and more difficult at large multi-line stations unfortunately. The decision of which lines and directions of many to bring alongside each other for this is also not always straightforward where there's a lot of interchange. Apart from the safeguarded future Crossrail 2 corridor, it is said that there is probably no room to fit in any more lines AT ALL under London's central West End (commercial/entertainment) and City (financial) areas, let alone give the 'luxury' of aligning new tracks for cross-platform. There's also the question of speed. A very long roundabout approach alignment to get alongside another line might add distance and impose speed limits due to curvature. In London, many cross platforms, especially older ones, although broadly parallel and on the same level, are formed of individual station tunnels for each track, connected by a limited number of fairly narrow cross passages. 'Consistent platform for destination' is also a relevant feature. London's Infamous Camden Town alternates trains for City and West End routes from both converging Northern Line branches, each with their own platforms so you can't always know which is next for your particular city centre destination. At least the platfroms are on the same level so you can scoot through the passageways fairly quickly if info. changes, although its a fair distance between them, particulalry at the north end.
The one cross-platform transfer that comes to my mind and that I'm familiar with is at Gesundbrunnen station in Berlin. It's quite useful because it allows people to transfer from a north/south connection to a ring line.
hey look at Bornholmer Str. there is a Crossplatform station too.😉
@@andreawoelke There are several others like this as well, e.g. in the U9 down in Steglitz where it was supposed to interchange with U10 or Rathaus Spandau where U7 was supposed to meet U2. As it stands, the only cross platform transfer in the U-Bahn system is Mehringdamm.
@@andreawoelke Right, I forgot about Warschauer Straße. Probably because I try to avoid it. There's always too much going on.
@@MTobias The last time I used Mehringdamm was when I had a craving for chicken dürüm from Mustafa. So good.
Wuhletal is another example with the added bonus that it's between the S- and U-Bahn instead of the same mode.
Cross platform transfers can be found in Vienna on the U-bahn and in Manchester on the Metrolink, but in Vienna, at Meidling Haupstraße, there are cross-platfrom transfers between the U4 and U6
Mile End station in east London is a perfect example! can get off the central line and change for the district AND Hammersmith and city lines only a 5 steps away
We have a beautiful example of this in my hometown of Hamburg. The two most important metro lines meet at an elevated station with two islands. A flyover on one side and a sunken track on the other make for fun rides whenever you enter the station. I've used the station so many times in my life that it never registered to me how convenient the cross platform transfer really is! And it's a beautiful station, built for the very first metro line in Hamburg, Station name is Kellinghusenstraße.
Great explanation. But there're also a bunch of scenarios you should AVOID cross-platform transfers:
If the connected lines run trains significantly different in size, don't build a cross-platform transfer: Otherwise passengers from longer trains may easily overflow shorter ones. This is especially the case when one line is a conventional high-capacity subway and another is a medium to low capacity light metro like the airtrains.
If the connected lines run at different headways, don't build a cross-platform transfer, or don't until the headways are improved at least. This is quite self-explanatory: Otherwise you'll end up with platforms flooded with passengers transferring from the frequent line to the infrequent one.
If both connected lines run at very high frequencies, and there're huge loads of transfer in both directions, don't build a cross-platform transfer. When two train berth at the same platform, you'll have crowds of people jamming into each other, which may lead to an incident.
I think these are some of the reasons why the art of cross-platform transfers are shelved. It works very well when it's well-desiged and functions properly. But in a real-world transit system, everything could go wrong.
I’m just in the door from a bus in rural where I got soak whilst waiting but I was thinking of you because I notice our buses has more features recently like onboard information screens and maps
One of the more elegant cross transfer plattforms are in Stockholm between the Red and Green Line on the three stations that are common to both lines. Because both lines branches out in three different directions, all three branches on the Red line are cross transferred with the three other branches of the Green line BUT ON DIFFERENT STATIONS. That means, whatever branch line you are yourself sitting on, you can choose which of the three stations to get the smoothest transfer. So, if I'm sitting on the Green line, on station A I can switch to Red line going X branch, on station B to Red line going Y, on station C, to Red line going Z branch. And the same for all alternatives in the opposite direction.
Not to mention the transfer between metro and tram (Nockebybanan) at Alvik. The fact that it is intermodal also has an interesting side effect. Since they want the tram to have the cross-platform interchange with trains into the city, the tram has to come in on the left hand side of the tram tracks, so that it matches the metro, but since trams drive on the right hand side, to fit in with other street traffic, they have to switch sides later.
Was going to mention this. With the branches you also have natural cross platform transfers and same track transfers since in the central city they run on the same track.
For instance the Red Line has subway lines 13 and 14 which branch out on separate tracks outside the centre, but for eight stations they’re functionally the same (which also doubles frequency for those stations). On any of those you switch on the same side.
A good example for this is Frankfurt-Konstablerwache, which is a central crossing station on the city, where you can change from the S-Bahn to the U-Bahn, and vice versa, on the same platform. The S-Bahn and the U-Bahn even share a 4 track tunnel between Konstablerwache and Hauptwache under Frankfurts main shopping street. At Hauptwache, however, the platforms of the U-Bahn and the S-Bahn are seperated again, and you need to take the stairs to switch lines.
I love that interchange but I always felt that, from a passenger perspective, the cross-platform interchange should have been at Hauptwache. Westbound journeys wouldn't be affected at all, but eastbound I feel like there's going to be quite a few trips from Südbahnhof towards Hanau via Maintal once the new line opens. These passengers would benefit from having an island S-Bahn platform as they could just walk over. This situation does not exists towards the west, as any passengers who'd want to change between S-Bahn services would have already done so at Hbf or Taunusanlage and those who'd want to get from Hbf towards Bockenheimer Warte would take the U4 anyways. As things are, it would actually be more comfortable for S-Bahn passengers to change at Hauptwache if they want to continue east. Bit unfortunate.
Haha I learn everything about transit from you, ever since I moved to the suburbs in February from Toronto I've learnt how underappreciated the subway system in toronto is. These cross platforms never even crossed my minds, I'd assume the reason they don't do them is to save a quick buck from the little more complicated engineering. Also, you wouldn't be able to pass the little convenience stores on your way to your transfer.
Kennedy Station is really annoying to transfer on though, having to go up 2 flights of stairs to get on the scarborough RT was a pain.
Berlin has it too! On U-Bahn station Wittenbergplatz for instance. S+U-Bahn station Wuhletal even allows for a S-Bahn to U-Bahn cross-platform transfer. In Amsterdam I know Amstel station that has a cross-platform transfer from the subway to regional and intercity trains.
Drinking game: Take a shot every time he says "cross-platform transfer".
😮
We invest and build complex interchanges and fly-overs for low-capacity inefficient motor vehicles basically for every highway junction with no exceptions, but the thought of easy and accessible high efficiency cross-platform interchanges for transit users, oh the horror and the waste of taxpayer money.
I am thirty seconds through this, and you are exactly right! Because of the engineering 'concerns' you speak of we are losing our cross-platform transfers that have served us for about 100 years at Jamaica, on the Long Island Railroad, where 10 of the 11 branches of the said railroad converge before heading into Manhattan. Because there will be two stations in Manhattan now, and virtually twice the number of Manhattan trips to maintain acceptable frequency there, the engineers have advised us that cross-platform transfers are to be almost completely replaced by "Up-and-over" transfers involving going up and down two sets of stairs, and a lack scheduling coordination which characterized the old setup. The reason for having the cross-platform transfers to begin with was to attract passengers in the days when the railroads were privately run. Now passengers complain bitterly about this imposition and the sample schedules they're being handed, about which some are saying they'll be forced to make other arrangements.
So there is something to be said for private enterprise: that publicly run enterprises depend on the good intentions of those running them. But it's more complicated than that, because although the engineers have been leading the political fiduciaries around on a leash for a long time here we have lately gotten a few on the board who are actually marginally aware of this type of problem, and may in the future be more discriminating about what they're told to have built. There is a solution to restore cross-platform transfers at Jamaica, and it was foreseen by the engineers who designed the 90-year- old track configurations we have now in the broad vicinity of Jamaica, which are brilliantly expansible. But it would take some considerable investment to build. Luckily, the MTA is out of money right now, so can't go ahead with their planned modifications at Jamaica which are designed rule out cross-platforms forever.
THIS IS A FAKE ACCOUNT
@@brucehain With "FAKE ACCOUNT" you meant the spambot which impersonates the video creator, right?
A lot of underground stations in Düsseldorf Germany have two platforms, one for each direction. It is amazing.
Another benefit is if the two lines that run parallel or have some destinations in common such as the many stations served by both the Yamanote Line and Keihin-Tohoku in Tokyo, it is easier to be able to just get on which ever train that shows up first.
Not sure of many examples in Melbourne, but there is the possibility at Richmond to change from Platform 7 and 8 to choose between direct and City Loop services! They're usually timetabled to arrive at the same or similar times which is nice and convenient
Yep! Even a small number of them at high demand stations such as Richmond can make a big difference!
Don't forget in the City Loop stations, although that's more cross-platform transfers forced by the one-way design of the loop.
I don't know if this was intended, but the loghting in this video is so good!
You mean UA-cam's recent ambient mode?
I live near Stratford and it is not a particularly impressive station to use. It is a nightmare at peak hours because usage is vastly over capacity and with many passengers arriving by train it's hard to restrict. It is made much worse by piecemeal changes over the last twenty years that have tacked on or moved lines and platforms here and there without any grand plan. It now even has its own mini-tube map of how to get around which is not helped by some peak hour restriction on passenger flows.
The cross platform interchange for the Elizabeth Line hasn't attracted much attention for two reasons. One is that this part of the line isn't integrated with the tunnels yet (that changes at the weekend) and so to all extents and purposes it's just the same old Liverpool Street to Shenfield metro line it's been for decades just under a new branding (even the trains were already in place during the previous TfL Rail branding). The other is that the cross platform interchange dates from the late 1940s when the Central Line was extended here and so it's not a new feature London based video makers are familiar with.
Post-Sunday, the CPI at Stratford should attract attention with people who know what they are talking about. With Liz line through-running, the decades-long desire to render the CPI with the Central line far less useful for Shenfield metro passengers will have finally occurred. Billions have been spent to make far fewer people from Ilford, Romford, Shenfield, etc change trains at Stratford using the CPI - relieving not only the Central line between Z1 and Stratford, but also the 3-5 and 6-8 islands at Stratford.
Hopefully the peak time restrictions on passenger flows at Stratford station might be eased when the Liz beds down - stopping overcrowding on 3-5 / 6-8 is their main aim, after all!
Funny how 2:59 mark is from Admirality station, and that itself is a good example of cross-platform transfer between two lines, but the hustle is for the other two lines on the station.
My favourite cross-platform interchange is Längenfeldgasse here in Vienna - it combines two different powering methods, a third rail for the U4 and overhead power lines for the U6. Also, the trains run at the same time and wait for each other unless there's a significant delay which is really satisfying!
@@kensukefan47 aber wenn du von Meidling kommst und stadteinwärts mit der U4 fährst, was sehr viele täglich tun, ist das super! Laufen müsstest du ja in jedem Fall, wenn die Gleise nicht nebeneinander wären; wenigstens macht's das für viele Leute leichter
@@kensukefan47 das wäre echt eine gute Idee, da hast du auch wieder Recht :)
Let’s also add Tokyo Metro’s impressive thru running trains onto suburban commuter lines- the ultimate cross platform transfer since you kinda don’t get off the train for it! 😜
There are several instances of cross platforms between different agencies even like at Kudanshita between Toei Shinjuku Line and Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line, and Naka-Meguro between the Tokyu Toyoko and Tokyo Metro Hibiya lines.
Caused a bit of confusion for me also initially when I was waiting for a train to arrive at a _Toei Shinjuku_ subway line platform but a _Keio_ commuter train showed up instead
I have a little piece of history and facts about my town, Budapest. Suburban railways have existed for quite some time when the first heavy metro started to be built, in the '60s or something like that. One suburban line, currently lines 8, on this part overlapping with line 9 had the terminus at Keleti Pályaudvar, one of the major railway stations of the city, but the metro was starting to be built, and it was was about to serve Keleti, so they decided to cut back the suburban until the new shared terminus, currently Puskás Ferenc stadion. It was later during construction that they decided to lengthen the metro until Örs Vezér tere as many big block housing projects got built up, and so they cut back the suburban until then. But the Stadion station was supposed to be Cross-Platform Transfer™, with the metro pulling in the platforms in the middle, and suburban terminating on the outer platforms. Unfortunately it never happened, but that station still has four platforms, with only two being used. Also, it is an underground station. One question though, what happened to your Budapest video? I would love to see it again, will you make a new one?
I agree. We have 4 cross-platform stations here in Kuala Lumpur, and it's very nice as we don't have to walk. 3 are already in use and 1 will open in January. They are very disabled friendly and helps passengers a lot as they don't have to panic on where to go
So far we have
Kwasa Damansara (Interchange and terminus for both Kajang and Putrajaya line)
Tun Razak Exchange (Underground Interchange for Kajang and Putrajaya)
Putra Heights (Interchange and terminus for Kelana Jaya and Sri Petaling Line)
Assuming you says the 4th cross platform would be Chan Sow Lin station that would be an interchange for both Sri Petaling and Ampang Line
Let’s don’t forget about future Circle Lines
@@ScotyChokey MRT Circle line can contribute a lot, so we just have to wait and see!
@@17ashishemmanuel yeah, and I noticed they added some in-fill stations for kajang as first terminus (Bukit Kiara Selatan)
Assuming it would be a stacked island platform
I really appreciated the shade thrown in 5:57 to the absolutely horrible transfer between lines 5 and 6 in Ñuble station in Santiago. I mean, it's not the worse in the city (I guess that credit goes to Los Leones, at least at the moment), but Ñuble is famous for fatigued commuters wheezing after climbing the equivalent of a 14 storeys building of stairs from one line to the other (there are escalators, but also there are escalator issues, or too much people using them at once)
Munich has a few CPT stations with a 4 track/2 platforms layout where metro lines meet (Scheidplatz for U2 & U3, the part of Hauptbahnhof/central station where U1 and U2 meet and probably a few more that I can't remember) while other stations are stacked (Sendlinger Tor with U1/U2 on one and U3/U6 on the other floor and all stations that I know where metro meets the S-Bahn Stammstecke).
As you mentioned, the "stacked" stations have the issue of creating choke points at the escalators/lifts. Some stations tackled that with having 3 or even 4 parallel escalators instead of just 2, but it can still get quite crowded when several trains "unload" at the same time.
In the Boston area: R. I. P. original Ashmont Station. The original Ashmont Station looked like a complete dump, but it had cross-platform transfer between the Red Line (rapid transit) AND the Mattapan-Ashmont High Speed Line (light rail, but with streetcars instead of full-size light rail vehicles, but still running on private right-of-way) AND buses. And it gave shelter from the weather. Then the MBTA got CNG buses and wanted to be able to use them on potentially any route, and had NO creativity in figuring out how to make Ashmont Station safe for them while retaining the good shelter (same problem when they rebuilt Kenmore Station, but that's for another time). So they demolished the old station and built this new thing that looks okay superficially, but lost ALL cross-platform transfer, including making you go up stairs or an elevator to get to the Mattapan-Ashmont High-Speed Line. And the new station is a wind tunnel, which gets VERY uncomfortable in the winter. Now, apart from same-platform transfers between trains of different branches of the same line(*), the only remaining cross-platform transfer on the system is between southbound (but not northbound) Orange Line and Green Line trains in the rebuilt North Station.
(*)And you can't even count on that: When they built a new platform for Braintree Branch trains of the Red Line to stop at JFK/UMass Station, they did it in the way that was easiest for the construction, so that each branch has its own separate island platform between inbound and outbound trains, both at ground level. Now, you might say _why not just change between branches at Andrew, the station just north, which is more comfortable since it's underground anyway_ -- and you would be right for passengers going south; but what if you are waiting at JFK/UMass and you want to go north -- you've got **2** platforms that you have to catch a northbound train on, because the flying rail junction is north of JFK/UMass. The burden is on you to watch the train countdown signs to know which branch is going to give you a train first, or use a smartphone app to do the same thing, and to keep paying attention to these in case something fries and the answer that was correct when you went down the stairs/escalator/elevator is no longer correct.
I've recently used a cross-platform transfer in Paris, which is from RER B gare du Nord to RER A Gare de Lyon via Châtelet-les Halles. In fact it's so convenient that even there's a direct line (RER D) for this same trip, I tend to take A+B rather than D (which, I must say is a bit less frequent).
It's also worth noting that several cross platform transfers (French : correspondance quai à quai) are planned for in the future Grand Paris Express metro station "Saint Denis Pleyel"
I cross at Lionel-Gioulx on my commute to and from work. It brings me so much joy everytime, i can't get enough of cross platform transfers.
I think Crossrail in Stratford isn’t mentioned much because it isn’t a new cross platform interchange - it was built in the 1940s and Crossrail just took over the suburban services there.
Cities should really invest in having direct subway access from tram/light rail stops! I think having escalators/elevators at the end of the tram platforms that go into the pedway into the subway station would really be good on rainy days. It's also very annoying to have to try to find the subway entrances after crossing the street. This would also boost capacity because you can only have so many people crossing the street and using the sidewalks so only having to walk down the platform and never cross the street to access the subway would be very useful. This would work well at Westlake in Seattle; there could be an escalator at the end of the streetcar route into the Central Link subway . This would be easy since the tram stop is at a plaza and also it would make sense because its a block away from the monorail and the subway itself. Also at Capitol Hill and King Street stations this could happen, but it might be hard to retrofit since the tram stops are in the middle of the street.
Leiden in the Netherlands has long platforms enabling cross-platform interchange between three trains: on one side of the platform an express train in one direction (Haarlem - Amsterdam CS), the other side an express train in another direction (Schiphol - Amsterdam Zuid) and in front of that train a local train (to either Haarlem or Schiphol). Local train comes in first, and leaves last.
Walking along the length of trains to get to a train that's in front or behind it, isn't the same though - it can be a lot of walking and it gives very unoptimal use of seats and doors.
In Poland we could've built from ground-up one cross platform transfer between Metro M2 and M3, but engineers went the easy way with regular [going upstairs and downstairs again] way to change trains. National Stadium station was even funded by EU, so they could've made anything they imagined, especially with open-pit construction.
Yeah, that’s the thing when you have an open pit it seems that design options should be more flexible
finally finally FINALLY the remaster we have been waiting for!
New York and London reign supreme with cross platform transfers
I never really thought about Cross Platform transfers then I remembered travelling by train between my home and Glasgow where going home was always a big more pleasent because the line toward home and the line from Glasgow were literally across the platform.