Request stop

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In rail transport, a request stop or flag stop is a train station where trains stop only if passengers wish to board the train or leave it. This allows the train merely to slow (or in some cases to pass minor stations at speed) yet still to offer services to lightly-used stations.

The exact methods used to flag down a train vary by station and country. In the United Kingdom, most request stop stations require that the guard is informed by passengers wishing to stop at the station and that passengers waiting to catch the train merely make themselves clearly visible to the driver as the train approaches at a speed slow enough to stop if necessary. In some cases the station platform is observable by railway staff either near the station (e.g. in the signal box at Kidwelly railway station) or at the station itself. In these latter cases the staff may inform the driver in advance so that there is no need for the train to slow down unnecessarily when no passengers are waiting.

[edit] Austria

In Austria request stops sometimes feature an electronic signal indicator that is operated by the passengers themselves. If a passenger presses this indicator, a control on the platform changes the signals for the driver to inform them that the train should stop at this station. Because these signals are well before the station, trains are able to pass at speed if no passenger is waiting.

[edit] Other transport uses of the term

The term request stop is also used on some bus networks (particularly in Canada) to describe a stop to let off or pick up women who are not at a bus stop. Several Canadian bus operators offer this facility on evening and night buses to make women feel safer and more comfortable using the bus. The term 'night request stop' is sometimes used for this.