Split platform

A pair of split level platforms in Harvard station of the Boston-Cambridge MBTA Red Line service. The upper (outbound) platform at left is empty, while the lower (inbound) platform is relatively crowded.

A split platform is a station that has a platform for each track, split onto two or more levels. This configuration allows a narrower station plan (or footprint) horizontally, at the expense of a deeper (or higher) vertical elevation, because sets of tracks and platforms are stacked above each other. Where two rails lines cross or run parallel for a time, split platforms are sometimes used in a hybrid arrangement that allows for convenient cross-platform interchange between trains running in the same general direction.

Reasons for usage

On the London Underground, to minimise the risk of subsidence, the tunnel alignments largely followed the roads on the surface and avoided passing under buildings.^{[note 1]} If a road was too narrow to allow the construction of side-by-side tunnels, they would be aligned one above the other, so that a number of stations have platforms at different levels.^[1]

Examples

This setup is not common in North American railroad stations, but is found in places in Europe such as the London Underground on the deep tube lines, namely the Bakerloo, Central, Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines.^[2]^{[note 2]}

Examples of split platform layout in the United States are Rosslyn on the Washington Metro's Blue and Orange Lines; Pentagon on the Washington Metro's Blue and Yellow Lines; and Harvard and Porter stations on the Boston-Cambridge MBTA Red Line. Split platforms are also at downtown Oakland, California on BART's 12th and 19th Street, and at Los Angeles Metro Rail's Wilshire/Vermont. MARTA's Ashby station uses the configuration to separate the eastbound and westbound platforms. A similar configuration was once planned for downtown San Francisco stations, but the lower level was used for San Francisco Municipal Railroad trains.

In the New York City Subway, Nostrand Avenue and Kingston Avenue stations on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line have two tracks on each level, with each of the two levels serving trains in one direction. Further north on the Eastern Parkway line, Borough Hall also has split platforms. Also, stations on the IND Eighth Avenue Line have split stacked platforms between 59th Street – Columbus Circle] and Cathedral Parkway – 110th Street due to the proximity of the line to Central Park. In other stations like Fulton Street, Borough Hall, and Fifth Avenue / 53rd Street, platforms are stacked due to the narrowness of the street directly above the station. One notable station, Wilson Avenue on the BMT Canarsie Line, has one elevated platform and one at-grade platform, due to the narrowness of the line's right-of-way.

In Canada, split platforms on the Montreal Metro are located at De L'Église and Charlevoix and the Blue Line platforms at Jean-Talon, while Snowdon and Lionel-Groulx have a hybrid layout where the two directions on each line are split from each other but sharing an island platform with the other line. They are also found on Vancouver's SkyTrain, at the stations in the Dunsmuir Tunnel and at the King Edward station on the Canada Line.

Milan Metro Sant'Agostino on line M2 is similar, and also all the stations between Crocetta and Turati on line M3.

On Munich Marienplatz Station the Munich S-Bahn (suburban trains) are on two separate levels, where westbound trains depart from the lower level, eastbound trains from the upper level. Below the westbound level there is an interchange to the metro lines U3 and U6 in North-South direction.

In Nuremberg metro network, the station Plärrer has two platforms for cross-platform interchange between lines U1 and U2/U3. The upper platform is used for westbound/outbound services, while the lower one is designated for eastbound/inbound trains.

In Hanover light-metro network, Kröpcke has three levels, one for blue lines (3, 7 and 9); SW to NE, one for red lines (1, 2 and 8); NW to SE and one for yellow lines (4, 5, 6 and 11). The red lines level and the yellow lines level are situated directly below each other. An interchange between red and yellow lines is possible at Aegidientorplatz where the underground platforms are situated the same way like Nürnberg Plärrer. Eastbound/outbound trains use the lower platform, westbound/inbound trains use the upper one.

On Vienna U-Bahn line U3, the stations Neubaugasse, Zieglergasse, Herrengasse, Stephansplatz and Stubentor have two levels of platforms. Trains towards Ottakring (westbound) use the lower platform, trains towards Simmering the upper one. In Stephansplatz the line U1 crosses below these platforms.

In Asia, Jingan and Yongan Market on the Taipei Metro have split stacked platforms, and Central, Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, Tin Hau, North Point, and Sai Wan Ho on MTR's Island Line on Hong Kong Island all have split platforms. Promenade Station in Singapore and Bukit Bintang MRT station in Malaysia also have split side platforms.

Notes and references

Notes

↑ This is because a time limit was set for the compulsory purchase of land and the raising of capital to encourage railway companies to complete the construction of railways as soon as possible.
↑ Stations like Baker Street and Camden Town have split island platforms to provide cross-platform interchange between lines or branches.^[3]^[4]^[5]

References

↑ Day & Reed 2008, pp. 52–54.
↑ "3D Maps of Every Underground Station". ianvisits.co.uk. 12 July 2015. Archived from the original on 27 November 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
↑ Horne, Mike (1999). The Jubilee Line. Capital Transport. ISBN 1854142208.
↑ Clive, Feather (17 November 2016). "Bakerloo Line — Layout". Clive's Underground Line Guides. Archived from the original on 27 November 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
↑ Clive, Feather (8 June 2016). "Northern Line — Layout". Clive's Underground Line Guides. Archived from the original on 27 November 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.

Bibliography

Day, John R; Reed, John (2008) [1963]. The Story of London's Underground. Capital Transport. ISBN 1-85414-316-6.

Railway track layouts
Running lines	Single track Passing loop Double track Quadruple track Crossover
Rail sidings	Balloon loop Headshunt Refuge siding Rail yard Classification yard
Junctions	Flying junction Level junction Double junction Facing and trailing Grand union Wye Switch / turnout / points Swingnose crossing Level crossing
Stations	Railway platform Side platform Island platform Bay platform Split platform Terminal station Balloon loop Spanish solution Cross-platform interchange Interchange station
Hillclimbing	Horseshoe curve Zig Zag / Switchback Spiral
Track geometry	Track gauge Ruling gradient Minimum curve radius Cant Cant deficiency

Railway infrastructure
Permanent way	Permanent way (history) Permanent way (current) Railroad tie/Sleeper Rail fastening system Track ballast Rail profile Fishplate Breather switch Datenail Axe ties Ladder track Baulk road Cant Minimum radius Track transition curve Clip and scotch
Trackwork and track structures	Junction Wye Railroad switch Gauntlet track Railway electrification system Third rail Overhead lines Guide bar Track gauge Track geometry Railway turntable Water crane Track pan Coaling tower Rail track Tramway track Classification yard Rail yard Siding Passing loop Balloon loop Headshunt Refuge siding Dual gauge Roll way
Signalling and safety	Derail Railway signalling Signalling control Wayside horn Railway signal Interlocking Level crossing Buffer stop Catch points Loading gauge Structure gauge Block post Train stop Signal bridge Tell-tale
Buildings	Railway station Station building Railway station layout Station clock Train shed Goods shed Motive power depot Roundhouse Railway platform

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