Platform gap fillers are movable platform edge extensions at subway or railway stations where the curvature of the platform creates a significant gap between the platform and subway or train car door.

Hong Kong

Platform gap fillers were trialled on the platforms of

Lo Wu station Lo Wu is the northern terminus of the (Kowloon-Canton Railway) of Hong Kong, located in Lo Wu within the Closed Area on Hong Kong's northern frontier. The station serves as a primary checkpoint for rail passengers between Hong Kong and ma ...

on the

East Rail line The East Rail line () is one of ten lines of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system in Hong Kong. It used to be one of the three lines of the Kowloon–Canton Railway (KCR) network. It was known as the KCR British Section () from 1910 to 199 ...

in 2009 due to the difficulty of installing

platform screen doors Platform screen doors (PSDs), also known as platform edge doors (PEDs), are used at some train, rapid transit and people mover stations to separate the platform from train tracks, as well as on some bus rapid transit, tram and light rail sys ...

on the curved nature of the platforms. They were planned to be installed at other stations along the line along with signal upgrades. However, during the trial period, MTR found that the time taken for the gap filler to fully extend took 15-20 seconds and so greatly increased dwell times of trains. It was decided unsuitable for service. After the trial period ended in October 2009, the platform gap fillers were not used until it was finally removed during a platform-strengthening maintenance operation. Plans to install it on other stations of the East Rail line were also abandoned.

Japan

Some Japanese railway stations have platform gap fillers, which are known as . Over 200 fillers are used in the Tokyo subway.

London Underground

With the introduction of the NTfL, Transport for London are hoping to introduce platform gap fillers on the

Bakerloo The Bakerloo line () is a London Underground line that goes from in suburban north-west London to in south London, via the West End. Printed in brown on the Tube map, it serves 25 stations, 15 of which are underground, over . It runs partl ...

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Cour ...

lines (of which 14 platforms have been identified for installation) at curved platforms such as Bank, where the gap between the train and the platform can exceed 1 foot.

New York City Subway

The

Interborough Rapid Transit Company The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the private operator of New York City's original underground subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlier elevated railways and additional rapid transit lines in New York City. The IRT ...

's first cars were built with only two doors on each side, at the extreme ends of the car, lining up with the curved platforms so as not to leave a wide gap between the train and the platform. When the IRT modified existing cars and ordered new cars with a middle door, gap fillers were needed because the middle door was not near the platform. After the City of New York bought the IRT in 1940, new car designs (starting with the R12) had the end doors away from the extreme ends of the car body, which also required the use of gap fillers at certain stations.

Stations equipped

IRT stations with gap fillers are: * South Ferry, outer loop. The station closed on March 16, 2009 and was replaced by a new station which does not require gap fillers. After the latter station was damaged by flooding during

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

, the loop station was reopened as a temporary terminus on April 4, 2013. The 2009-era station reopened on June 27, 2017. *

Brooklyn Bridge – City Hall (IRT Lexington Avenue Line) Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

originally had gap fillers on the express platforms. These were deactivated when the station was extended northward. These gap fillers are still in place and can be seen just south of the current platforms. * 14th Street – Union Square (IRT Lexington Avenue Line) has gap fillers on both tracks on the downtown platform. There may have been gap fillers on the uptown express platform. A new design of gap filler was installed in 2004 to provide maintenance access from the platform rather than requiring crews to stand at track level. * Times Square (IRT 42nd Street Shuttle) had gap fillers on Shuttle tracks 1 and 3. They were mounted under the platform rather than on it, so they were not ADA accessible. They were removed in 2021 when the station was rebuilt.

Singapore

Platform gap fillers are used in the Mass Rapid Transit system of

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, namely the North South MRT Line and the East West MRT Line. Platform gap fillers are also planned for installation on trains on the

North East MRT Line The North East MRT line (NEL) is a high-capacity Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line in Singapore. Operated by SBS Transit, it is the shortest MRT line at . The line runs from HarbourFront station in southern Singapore to Punggol station in the n ...

and the

Circle MRT Line The Circle MRT Line (CCL) is a medium-capacity Mass Rapid Transit line in Singapore operated by SMRT Corporation. It runs in a currently incomplete loop from Dhoby Ghaut station in the city area of Singapore to HarbourFront station in the ...

as well, because newer trains can be equipped with gap fillers.

Germany

Many regional trains in Germany come with platform gap fillers, such as the

Bombardier Talent 2 The Talent 2 is a multiple unit railcar manufactured by Bombardier Transportation. The train began production in 2008 and first entered service with Deutsche Bahn in 2011. Despite having the same name as the original Talent, designed by Waggonf ...

. On subway networks, they have also become more common, as evidenced by the Nuremberg U-Bahn whose 1970s first generation

VAG Class DT1 The VAG Class DT1 (colloquially called "Pegnitzpfeil") is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by the Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft Nürnberg on the Nuremberg U-Bahn system since its opening in 1972. It is a derivative of the MVG Cla ...

do not have them but whose

VAG Class DT3 The VAG Class DT3 is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by the Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft Nürnberg on the Nuremberg U-Bahn system. It is the first type of rolling stock on the Nuremberg U-Bahn that has gangways between the ind ...

of the 2000s and 2010s and VAG Class G1 of the 2020s come equipped with automatic gap fillers.

References

External links

*{{Commonscat-inline, Train station platform gap fillers New York City Subway Railway safety Railway platforms ja:ホームドア#車両とドア間の安全対策