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Railway Stations

Railway stations

in 1865.]] A train station, or railroad station (American English), or railway station (British English), is a point of call for trains, allowing the loading or unloading of goods, or allowing passengers to board and alight. Early stations were usually built with both passenger and goods facilities (though there was very often a separate freight terminal nearby, even in quite small communities). This dual purpose is less common today, and in many cases goods facilities are restricted to major stations. Generally stations are sited next to a railway or railroad line, or form the terminus for a particular route. Usually platforms are present to allow passengers to access trains easily and safely. Platforms may be connected by subways, bridges, or level crossings to the main part of the station; passenger facilities such as shelter, ticket sales, waiting rooms and benches are partly there, partly on the platforms. The term station stop is used to differentiate a stop for a station from a stop for another reason, such as an engine change. As well as providing services for passengers and loading facilities for goods, stations often had locomotive and rolling stock depots (including refuelling, sidings and sheds). A train station that is jointly used by several rail transport companies is sometimes called a union station, or an interchange station. Train stations colocated with other transport systems such as trams and buses may also be referred to as interchanges, as may stations offering both metro/subway and heavy rail services.

Development

bus, Japan, are often still built to a grand scale, though with steel, glass and abstract design]] The first train stations resembled tram stops, with little in the way of buildings or facilities. The first railway stations in the modern sense were on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, opened in 1830. Today Liverpool Road station is preserved as part of the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. It resembles a row of Georgian houses [http://www.msim.org.uk/galleries.asp?main=010400]. Many train stations — unsurprisingly — date from the 19th century and reflect the architecture of the time, grand in scale and size, lending prestige to the city as well as to railway operations. Countries where railways arrived later may still have such architecture, as later stations often imitated 19th century styles. Various forms of architecture have been used in the construction of railway stations, from those boasting grand and intricate almost baroque-style edifices, to more stark utilitarian or modern styles. Stations built more recently often have a similar feel to airports, with a cold and plain abstract style. Examples of modern stations include those on newer high-speed rail networks, such as the shinkansen in Japan and LGV lines in France. Britain boasts a new modern rail terminus at Waterloo International, the end-point for the Eurostar Channel Tunnel rail services to France and Belgium. This station will cease to be the Eurostar terminal when the new St Pancras terminal, connected to the Channel Tunnel high-speed rail link, opens in 2007.

Superlatives

The world's busiest train station, in terms of daily passenger throughput, is Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, Japan. Ikebukuro Station, just minutes away, is the world's second-busiest. By train throughput, the world's busiest train station is Clapham Junction in London. The world's largest train station, in terms of floor area, is Nagoya Station in Nagoya, Japan. However, the Nagoya Station complex incorporates two office towers and an underground shopping concourse, so the railway terminal itself is not large in comparison to others. Shinjuku Station is the second largest. In terms of platform capacity, the world's largest train station is Grand Central Terminal in New York City, USA.

Terminal stations

USA, showing the terminal trackage beyond the station building.]] Main article: terminal station A terminus is a station sited where a railway line ends or terminates. Thus, platforms can be reached without crossing tracks. Often a terminus is the final destination of a train, but not necessarily. When a train is required to travel onwards from a terminus, it must reverse out of the station to continue the trip. Various methods exist to counter this problem. The same applies if the station is not a terminus, but the train service involves reversing direction anyway. Reversing direction often causes some worry to travellers who are inexperienced and have no detailed geographic knowledge of the railway lines — one might assume the train has finished its journey and is returning to the starting location. Some travellers prefer facing forward; if possible they change place when there is a reversal of direction. In some types of carriages, train personnel (or even passengers themselves) are able to turn the seats when the train changes direction so that all travellers face forward. For more on this, see Commuter train.

Station facilities

Train stations usually include either ticket booths, or ticket machines. Ticket sales may also be combined with customer service desks or convenience stores. Many stations include some form of convenience store. Larger stations usually have fast-food or restaurant facilities. In some countries, such stations also have a bar, or pub. Other station facilities include: toilets, left-luggage, lost-and-found, departures and arrivals boards, luggage carts, waiting rooms, taxi ranks and bus bays. Larger or manned stations tend to have a greater range of facilities. A most basic station might only have platforms, though it would still be distinguished from a halt, a stopping or halting place that may not even have platforms.

Configurations of train stations

bus serves trains passing through the station. Passengers reach the island platform (on right) by a pedestrian footbridge.]] In addition to the basic configuration of a train station, various features set certain types of station apart. The first is the level of the tracks. Stations are often sited where a road crosses the railway: unless the crossing is a level crossing, the road and railway will be at different levels. The platforms will often be raised or lowered relative to the station entrance: the station buildings may be on either level, or both. The other arrangement, where the station entrance and platforms are on the same level, is also common, but is perhaps rarer in urban areas, except when the station is a terminus. Elevated stations are more common, not including metro stations. An unusual configuration is where the station serves railway lines at differing levels. This may be due to the station's situation at a point where two lines cross, or may be to provide separate station capacity for two types of service, e.g. intercity and suburban, or simply two different destinations. Stations may also be classified on the layout of the platforms. Apart from single-track lines, the most basic arrangement is a pair of railway tracks for the two directions; but even there there is a basic choice of an island platform between the tracks, or two separate platforms outside the tracks. With more tracks, the possibilities expand. Some stations have unusual platform layouts, due to space constraints of the station location, or the alignment of the railway lines. Examples are non-parallel platforms and curved stations (and platforms). A list is available detailing further examples of less usual railway station layouts.

Accessibility

Accessibility for people with disabilities is important in train station design and mandated by law in some countries. Considerations include: elevator or ramp access to all platforms, matching platform height to train floors, making wheelchair lifts available when platforms do not match vehicle floors, accessible toilets and pay phones, audible station announcements, safety measures such as tactile marking of platform edges and covering of third rail.

American English

American English (AmE) is the dialect of the English language used mostly in the United States of America. Crystal (1997) estimates that approximately two thirds of native speakers of English live in the United States. American English is also sometimes called United States English or U.S. English.

History

English was inherited from British colonization. The first wave of English-speaking immigrants was settled in North America in the 17th century. In that century, there were also speakers in North America of the Dutch, French, German, myriad Native American, Spanish, Swedish, Scots, Welsh, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Finnish languages.

Phonology

In many ways, compared to British English, American English is conservative in its phonology. The conservatism of American English is largely the result of the fact that it represents a mixture of various dialects from the British Isles. Dialect in North America is most distinctive on the East Coast of the continent; this is largely because these areas were in contact with England, and imitated prestigious varieties of British English at a time when those varieties were undergoing changes. The interior of the country was settled by people who were no longer closely connected to England, as they had no access to the ocean during a time when journeys to Britain were always by sea. As such the inland speech is much more homogeneous than the East Coast speech, and did not imitate the changes in speech from England. East Coast-influenced non-rhotic pronunciations may be found among blacks throughout the country.]]Most North American speech is rhotic, as English was in most places in the 17th century. Rhoticity was further supported by Hiberno-English, Scottish English, and West Country English. In most varieties of North American English, the sound corresponding to the letter "R" is a retroflex semivowel rather than a trill or a tap. The loss of syllable-final r in North America is confined mostly to the accents of eastern New England, New York City and surrounding areas, South Philadelphia, and the coastal portions of the South. Dropping of syllable-final r sometimes happens in natively rhotic dialects if r is located in unaccented syllables or words and the next syllable or word begins in a consonant. In England, lost 'r' was often changed into (schwa), giving rise to a new class of falling diphthongs. Furthermore, the 'er' sound of (stressed) fur or (unstressed) butter, which is represented in IPA as stressed or unstressed is realized in American English as a monophthongal r-colored vowel. This does not happen in the non-rhotic varieties of North American speech. Some other British English changes in which most North American dialects do not participate:
- The shift of to (the so-called "broad A") before alone or preceded by . This is the difference between the British Received Pronunciation and American pronunciation of bath and dance. In the United States, only linguistically conservative eastern-New-England speakers took up this innovation.
- The shift of intervocalic to glottal stop , as in for bottle. This change is not universal for British English (and in fact is not considered to be part of Received Pronunciation), but it does not occur in most North American dialects. Newfoundland English and the dialect of New Britain, Connecticut are notable exceptions. On the other hand, North American English has undergone some sound changes not found in Britain, at least not in standard varieties. Many of these are instances of phonemic differentiation and include
- The merger of and , making father and bother rhyme. This change is nearly universal in North American English, occurring almost everywhere except for parts of eastern New England, like the Boston accent.
- The replacement of the lot vowel with the strut vowel in what, was, of, from, everybody, nobody, somebody, anybody, because, and in some dialects want.
- The merger of and . This is the so-called cot-caught merger, where cot and caught are homophones. This change has occurred in eastern New England, in Pittsburgh and surrounding areas, and from the Great Plains westward.
- Vowel merger before intervocalic . Which (if any) vowels are affected varies between dialects.
- The merger of and after palatals in some words, so that cure, pure, mature and sure rhyme with fir in some speech registers for some speakers.
- Dropping of after alveolar consonants so that new, duke, Tuesday, suit, resume, lute are pronounced , , , , , .
- Æ-tensing in environments that vary widely from accent to accent. In some accents, particularly those from Philadelphia to New York City, and can even contrast sometimes, as in Yes, I can vs. tin can .
- Laxing of , and to , and before , causing pronunciations like , and for pair, peer and pure.
- The flapping of intervocalic and to alveolar tap before reduced vowels. The words ladder and latter are mostly or entirely homophonous, possibly distinguished only by the length of preceding vowel. For some speakers, the merger is incomplete and 't' before a reduced vowel is sometimes not tapped following or when it represents underlying 't'; thus greater and grader, and unbitten and unbidden are distinguished. Even among those words where and are flapped, words that would otherwise be homophonous are, for some speakers, distinguished if the flapping is immediately preceded by the diphthongs or ; these speakers tend to pronounce writer with and rider with . This is called Canadian raising; it is general in Canadian English, and occurs in some northerly versions of American English as well (often just applying to the diphthong , but not to ).
- Both intervocalic and may be realized as or , making winter and winner homophones. This does not occur when the second syllable is stressed, as in entail.
- The pin-pen merger, by which is raised to before nasal consonants, making pairs like pen/pin homophonous. This merger originated in Southern American English but is now widespread in the Midwest and West as well. Some mergers found in most varieties of both American and British English include:
- The horse-hoarse merger of the vowels and before 'r', making pairs like horse/hoarse, corps/core, for/four, morning/mourning etc. homophones.
- The wine-whine merger making pairs like wine/whine, wet/whet, Wales/whales, wear/where etc. homophones. Many older varieties of southern and western American English still keep these distinct, but the merger appears to be spreading.

Differences in British English and American English

Main article: American and British English differences American English has both spelling and grammatical differences from British English (or Commonwealth English), some of which were made as part of an attempt to rationalize the English spelling used by British English at the time. Unlike many 20th century language reforms (for example, Turkey's alphabet shift, Norway's spelling reform) the American spelling changes were not driven by government, but by textbook writers and dictionary makers. The first American dictionary was written by Noah Webster in 1828. At the time America was a relatively new country and Webster's particular contribution was to show that the region spoke a different dialect from Britain, and so he wrote a dictionary with many spellings differing from the standard. Many of these changes were initiated unilaterally by Webster. Webster also argued for many "simplifications" to the idiomatic spelling of the period. Somewhat ironically, many, although not all, of his simplifications fell into common usage alongside the original versions, resulting in a situation even more confused than before. Many words are shortened and differ from other versions of English. Spellings such as center are used instead of centre in other versions of English. Conversely, American English sometimes favors words that are morphologically more complex, whereas British English uses clipped forms, such as AmE transportation and BrE transport or where the British form is a back-formation, such as AmE burglarize and BrE burgle (from burglar).

English words that arose in the U.S.

A number of words that arose in the United States have become common, to varying degrees, in English as it is spoken internationally. Although its origin is disputed, the most famous word is probably OK, which is sometimes used in other languages as well. Other American introductions include "belittle," "gerrymander" (from Elbridge Gerry), "blizzard", "teenager", and many more.

English words obsolete outside the U.S.

A number of words that originated in the English of the British Isles are still in everyday use in North America, but are no longer used in most varieties of British English. The most conspicuous of these words are fall, the season; to quit, as in "to cease an activity" (as opposed to "to leave a location" as still used in most other Anglophone countries); and gotten as a past participle of get. Americans are more likely than Britons to name a stream whose breadth or volume is judged insufficient for it to be a river or a creek. The word diaper goes back at least to Shakespeare, and usage was maintained in the U.S. and Canada, but was replaced in the British Isles with nappy. Some of these words are still used in various dialects of the British Isles, but not in formal standard British English. Many of these older words have cognates in Lowland Scots. The subjunctive mood is livelier in North American English than it is in British English; it appears in some areas as a spoken usage, and is considered obligatory in more formal contexts in American English. British English has a strong tendency to replace subjunctives with auxiliary verb constructions.

Regional differences

Main article: American English regional differences Spoken American English is not homogeneous throughout the country, and various regional and ethnic variants exist. These differences affect both pronunciation and the lexicon, and can make one accent a little difficult for speakers of another accent to understand. General American is the name given to any American accent that is relatively free of noticeable regional influences. It enjoys high prestige among Americans, but is not a standard accent in the way that Received Pronunciation is in England.

References

External links

- [http://www.pbs.org/speak/ Do You Speak American]: PBS special
- [http://cfprod01.imt.uwm.edu/Dept/FLL/linguistics/dialect/ Dialect Survey] of the United States, by Bert Vaux et al., Harvard University. The answers to various questions about pronunciation, word use etc. can be seen in relationship to the regions where they are predominant.
- [http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atlas/home.html Phonological Atlas of North America] at the University of Pennsylvania
- [http://students.csci.unt.edu/~kun Guide to Regional English Pronunciation] includes working versions of the Telsur Project maps from the Phonologial Atlas site
- [http://www.peak.org/~jeremy/dictionary/ The American•British British•American Dictionary]
- [http://classweb.gmu.edu/accent/ Speech Accent Archive]
- [http://www.world-english.org/ World English Organization]
- [http://www.esuus.org English Speaking Union of the United States]
- [http://canadianenglish1.narod.ru American Canadian British English Lexical Differences In One Table]
- [http://australianenglish1.narod.ru Australian American British English Lexical Differences In One Table And More]
- [http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/words_list/british_american.htm British, American, Australian English - Lists and Online Exercises]
- [http://www.globalenglishsalon.com/ Listen to spoken American English (midwest

Train

:For other types of train see train (disambiguation) In rail transport, a train consists of a single or several connected rail vehicles that are capable of being moved together along a guideway to transport freight or passengers from one place to another along a planned route. The guideway (permanent way) usually consists of conventional rail tracks, but might also be monorail or maglev. Propulsion for the train is typically provided by a separate locomotive, or from individual motors in self-propelled multiple units. Power is usually derived from diesel engines or from electricity supplied by trackside systems. Historically the steam engine was the dominant form of locomotive power, and other sources of power (such as horses, pneumatics, or gas turbines) are possible as well. In American railway terminology, a consist is used to describe the group of rail vehicles which make up a train.

Types of trains

railway terminology, Perth ]] There are various types of trains designed for particular purposes, see rail transport operations. A train can consist of a combination of a locomotive and attached railroad cars, or a self-propelled multiple unit (or occasionally a single powered coach, called a railcar). Trains can also be hauled by horses, pulled by a cable, or run downhill by gravity. Special kinds of trains running on corresponding special 'railways' are atmospheric railways, monorails, high-speed railways, Dinky Trains, maglev, rubber-tired underground, funicular and cog railways. cog railway A passenger train may consist of one or several locomotives, and one or more coaches. Alternatively, a train may consist entirely of passenger carrying coaches, some or all of which are powered as a "multiple unit". In many parts of the world, particularly Japan and Europe, high-speed rail is utilized extensively for passenger travel. Freight trains comprise wagons or trucks rather than carriages, though some parcel and mail trains (especially Travelling Post Offices) are outwardly more like passenger trains. In the United Kingdom, a train hauled by two locomotives is said to be "double-headed", and in Canada and the United States it is quite common for a long freight train to be headed by three, four, or even five locomotives. Trains can also be mixed, hauling both passengers and freight, see e.g. Transportation in Mauritania. Such mixed trains became rare in many countries, but were commonplace on the first 19th-century railroads. Special trains are also used for track maintenance; in some places, this is called maintenance of way. A single uncoupled rail vehicle is not technically a train, but is usually referred to as such for signaling reasons.

Motive power

maintenance of way] The first trains were rope-hauled or pulled by horses, but from the early 19th century almost all were powered by steam locomotives. From the 1920s onwards they began to be replaced by less labor intensive and cleaner (but more expensive) diesel locomotives and electric locomotives, while at about the same time self-propelled multiple unit vehicles of either power system became much more common in passenger service. Most countries had replaced steam locomotives for day-to-day use by the 1970s. A few countries, most notably the People's Republic of China where coal is in cheap and plentiful supply, still use steam locomotives, but this is being gradually phased out. Historic steam trains still run in many other countries, for the leisure and enthusiast market. coal Electric traction offers a lower cost per mile of train operation but at a very high initial cost, which can only be justified on high traffic lines. Since the cost per mile of construction is much higher, electric traction is less favored on long-distance lines. Electric trains receive their current via overhead lines or through a third rail electric system.

Passenger trains

Passenger trains have Passenger cars. Passenger trains travel between stations; the distance between stations may vary from under 1 km to much more. Long-distance trains, sometimes crossing several countries, may have a dining or restaurant car; they may also have sleeping cars, but not in the case of high-speed rail, these arrive at their destination before the night falls and are in competition with airplanes in speed. Very long distance trains such as those on the Trans-Siberian railway are usually not high-speed. Very fast trains sometimes tilt, like the Pendolino or Talgo. Tilting is a system where the passenger cars automatically lean into curves, reducing the centrifugal forces acting on passengers and permitting higher speeds on curves in the track with greater passenger comfort. For trains connecting cities, we can distinguish inter-city trains, which do not halt at small stations, and trains that serve all stations, usually known as local trains or "stoppers" (and sometimes an intermediate kind, see also limited-stop). limited-stop For shorter distances many cities have networks of commuter trains, serving the city and its suburbs. Some carriages may be laid out to have more standing room than seats, or to facilitate the carrying of prams, cycles or wheelchairs. Some countries have some double-decked passenger trains for use in conurbations. Double deck high speed and sleeper trains are becoming more common in Europe. Passenger trains usually have emergency brake handles (or a "communication cord") that the public can operate. Abuse is punished by a fine. fine Large cities often have a metro system, also called underground, subway or tube. The trains are electrically powered, usually by third rail, and their railroads are separate from other traffic, without level crossings. Usually they run in tunnels in the city center and sometimes on elevated structures in the outer parts of the city. They can accelerate and decelerate faster than heavier, long-distance trains. A light one- or two-car rail vehicle running through the streets is not called a train but a tram, trolley, light rail vehicle or streetcar, but the distinction is not strict. The term light rail is sometimes used for a modern tram, but it may also mean an intermediate form between a tram and a train, similar to metro except that it may have level crossings. These are often protected with crossing gates. They may also be called a trolley. Maglev trains and monorails represent minor technologies in the train field. The term rapid transit is used for public transport such as commuter trains, metro and light rail. However, in New York City, lines on the New York City Subway have been referred to as "trains".

Freight trains

Passenger train human waste disposal Freight trains have freight cars. Much of the world's freight is transported by train. In the USA the rail system is used mostly for transporting freight (or cargo). Under the right circumstances, transporting freight by train is highly economic, and also more energy efficient than transporting freight by road. Rail freight is most economic when freight is being carried in bulk and over long distances, but is less suited to short distances and small loads. The main disadvantage of rail freight is its lack of flexibility. For this reason, rail has lost much of the freight business to road competition. Many governments are now trying to encourage more freight onto trains, because of the environmental benefits that it would bring. road competition]] There are many different types of freight train, which are used to carry many different kinds of freight, with many different types of wagon. One of the most common types on modern railways are container trains, whereby the containers can be lifted on and off the train by cranes and loaded off or onto trucks or ships. ship in 1992.]] This type of freight train has largely superseded the traditional "box wagon" type of freight train, whereby the cargo had to be loaded or unloaded manually. In some countries "piggy back" trains are used whereby trucks can drive straight onto the train and drive off again when the end destination is reached. A system like this is used on the Channel Tunnel between England and France. Piggy back trains are the fastest growing type of freight trains in the United States, where they are also known as 'trailer on flat car' or TOFC trains. There are also some "inter-modal" vehicles, which have two sets of wheels, for use in a train, or as the trailer of a road vehicle. There are also many other types of wagon, such as "low loader" wagons for transporting road vehicles. There are refrigerator wagons for transporting food. There are simple types of open-topped wagons for transporting minerals and bulk material such as coal and tankers for tranporting liquids and gases. Freight trains are sometimes illegally boarded by passengers who do not wish, or do not have the money, to travel by ordinary means. This is referred to as "Hopping" and is considered by some communities to be a viable form of transport. Most hoppers sneak into train yards and stow away in boxcars. More bold hoppers will catch a train "on the fly", that is, as it is moving, leading to occasional fatalities, some of which go unrecorded.

Famous train routes

Main article: Famous trains Famous historical train services include the:
- Orient Express in Europe.
- Trans-Siberian in Russia.
- Blue Train in South Africa.
- Train-de-Luxe from Johannesburg to Victoria Falls.
- Chihuahua al Pacifico in Mexico.
- Palace on Wheels in Rajasthan, India.
- Frontier Mail and Grand Trunk Express, India.
- The Canadian in Canada.
- 20th Century Limited in the USA.
- City of New Orleans in the USA.
- California Zephyr in the USA.
- The Indian-Pacific and The Ghan in Australia (long-distance rail).
- Puffing Billy and The Gulflander in Australia (heritage and touring).
- Rheingold Express in The Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland, following the course of the Rhine.

Fictional trains

See also: Rail transport in fiction
- Hogwarts Express — Takes Harry Potter to Hogwarts Academy.
- Taggart Comet (Atlas Shrugged)
- The Great Train Robbery — feature film based on a true story, also title of a modern film.
- Starlight Express (Andrew Lloyd Webber) — Musical about an old steam engine being replaced by an electrical engine.
- Galaxy Express 999 — From the manga and anime of the same name by Leiji Matsumoto, this train travels the galaxy from planet to planet.
- The Polar Express — From the book of the same name, this train takes children to the North Pole.
- Runaway Train — Film about escaped inmates on a runaway train.
- Atomic Train — TV movie (1999) A runaway train carrying an atomic bomb into a town.
- Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends TV Series originated from The Railway Series by the Rev.W.Awdry For a list of railway movies, see [http://www.spikesys.com/Trains/rly_movs.html] (website last updated December 5, 1995).

External links

- [http://www.raileurope.co.uk Book European rail travel online]
- [http://www.railfaneurope.net High Speed Train]
- Official [http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/planmyjourney/time_table/journey_requirements.asp train times] in the UK (from [http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ National Rail]).
- [http://www.railserve.com/ RailServe.com: The Internet Railroad Directory] - directory of 10,000 train sites
- [http://www.trainfoamers.com Trainfoamers.com] - It's Free To Talk Trains Again!
- [http://www.trainorders.com Trainorders.com] - Focus on trains of North America Category:Vehicles Category:Rail transport ms:Keretapi ja:列車

Passenger

- A passenger is a person using but not operating an airplane, train, bus or other mode of transport.
- Passenger is a Swedish metal group.
- Passenger is a 1961 film by Andrzej Munk.
- "The Passenger" is a song by Iggy Pop.
- Professione: reporter, a film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni

Terminal station

Terminal Station was also the name of a railway station in Chattanooga, Tennessee; see Chattanooga Choo Choo. A terminal station, or terminus (plural: termini or terminuses) is commonly used to describe a bus station or train station/railway station. Specifically this refers to an end destination, where the route or line terminates.
Rail services
In the context of rail transport, a terminal station refers to the termination of the railway line at that point. Hence, all platforms may be accessed without having to cross the rail tracks. This may not be true if the station yard lies behind the passenger station, but in this case, the station may not strictly be regarded as a terminus. The largest and most famous rail terminal in the United States is Grand Central Terminal in New York City, USA. Often major cities, such as Paris and Boston will have one or more termini, rather than routes straight through the city. Train journeys through such cities often require alternative transport (metro, bus or taxi) from one terminus to the other. Some cities, including New York, have both situations. Chicago has four major rail terminals presently in service, of which only one provides Amtrak intercity service (see Rail stations of Chicago).
Continuing service with reversed direction
Usually a terminus is the end destination for any trains calling at the station, but this may not necessarily be the case. If the train must continue a journey after calling at a terminal station, the train may not continue in a straight line through the station, it must reverse out of the station. In such a situation convenience of reversing direction is especially important. For such a train service preferably a train is used for which the driver just has to walk to the other side:
- Some locomotives can operate in push-pull mode, where they can either pull the carriages, or push them.
- Multiple units (diesel or electric) can usually operate in either direction. If the locomotive cannot run in such a fashion, it must detach from the main train, and 'run around' to the other end of the train (or if it is blocked in by its own train, another engine must take out the train). The same applies if the station is not a terminus, but the train service involves reversing direction anyway. Examples of train routes involving reversing direction at a terminus:
- The Hague Centraal, Netherlands (gvc) (at night only): multiple unit.
- Roma Termini
- Antwerp Centraal, Belgium (weekends only): locomotive on one side and a passenger car with driver's cabin on the other side.
- Eastbourne, for trains running from Lewes to Hastings or vice-versa.
- All of Chicago's Metra trains reverse direction in their downtown termini, either by means of push-pull or electric multiple units. Examples of train routes involving reversing direction at a station that is not a terminus:
- Haarlem (hlm), Utrecht Centraal (ut) and Arnhem, Netherlands: multiple unit.
- Rotterdam Centraal (rtd), Netherlands (a few times a day on the route Amsterdam (asd) - Hoek van Holland (hld)): multiple unit.
- Redhill, for trains from Gatwick Airport to Reading. Reversing direction often causes some worry to travellers who are inexperienced and have no detailed geographic knowledge of the railway lines: they think they will be going back all the way, but instead, there is of course a junction soon, where the train takes another branch than where it came from. Some travellers prefer facing forward; if possible they change place when there is a reversal of direction.
See also

- Commuter train
- Intermodal passenger transport category:rail transport
- ja:ターミナル駅

Railway platform

A railway platform is a section of pathway, alongside rail tracks at a train station, metro station or tram stop, at which passengers may board or alight from trains or trams. Almost all stations for rail transport have some form of platforms, with larger stations having multiple platforms. The term platform is most commonly used for designated areas where trains stop (Platform 1, 2, 3, etc.). Technically speaking, the term platform actually refers to physical continuous sections of platform area. So such a physical platform may contain several "designated" platforms.

Characteristics

tram stop A most basic form of platform consists of an area at the same level as the track, usually resulting in a fairly large height difference between the 'platform' and the train floor. This would often not be considered a true platform. The more traditional platform is situated at an elevated level relative to the track, but often lower than the train floor, although ideally the platform should be at the same level as the train floor. Occasionally the platform is at a higher level than the train floor. This may be the case when a train with a low floor level serves a station built for trains with a higher floor level, for example at the Dutch stations of the DB Regionalbahn Westfalen (see Enschede). Likewise, on the London Underground some stations are served by both District Line and Piccadilly Line trains, and the Piccadilly trains have lower floors. A tram stop is often in the middle of the street; usually it has as a platform a refuge area of a similar height to that of the sidewalk (eg. 10 cm), and sometimes has no platform at all. The latter requires extra care for the boarding and unboarding passengers and for the other traffic to avoid accidents. Both types of tram stops can be seen in the tram network of Melbourne. Sometimes a tram stop is served by ordinary trams (with rather low floors) as well as metro-like light rail vehicles with higher floors, and the tram stop is provided with a dual height platform. An example can be found in Amstelveen, Netherlands. Similarly a train station may be served by heavy-rail and light-rail vehicles (with lower floors) and also have a dual height platform. This applies for example on the RijnGouweLijn, Netherlands.

Facilities

Netherlands Part of the station facilities are usually on the platforms. Where the platforms are not situated within a station building, often some form of shelter or waiting room is provided. The protection offered by such varies greatly – some being little more than a roof with open sides, others being a closed room with heating or air-conditioning (the roof also provides shade; this may be a disadvantage in colder climates). Also there may be benches, lighting, garbage boxes and static timetables or dynamic displays with information about the next train, delays, etc. There are often loudspeakers as part of a public address system. The PA system is often found where dynamic timetables or electronic displays are not present. A variety of information is presented, usually pertaining to departures, but often arrivals also. This concerns destinations and times (for all trains, or only the more important long-distance trains), delays, cancellations, platform changes, changes in routes and destinations, the fact that for a train a supplemental fee or a reservation is required, etc.

Types of platform

public address There are at least three distinct types of platform, the bay platform, through platform and island platform. A bay platform is one at which the tracks terminate, i.e. a dead-end or siding. Trains serving a bay platform must reverse in or out. A through platform, conversely, is the more usual type of platform, located alongside tracks where the train may simply pull into the platform from one end, and leave passing the other end. Finally, an island platform has designated through platforms on both sides; it may be indented on one or both ends, with bay platforms. For passengers to reach an island platform, there may be a bridge, a tunnel, or a level crossing. The climb up to the bridge or down to the tunnel may use stairs, ramps, escalators, lifts, or a combination of the above. Some stations, such as Limerick Junction, in County Tipperary, Ireland, consist solely of an island platform hosting all platform numbers, as well as the station building entirely surrounded by track. Usually "platform" numbering is actually a numbering of the boarding/alightment areas in the station (hence one island platform, for example, may have several numbered "platforms"). In some cases, tracks without platform access, used for through traffic, also have a number.

Platform safety

Ireland Platforms usually have some form of warnings or measures to keep passengers away from the tracks and moving trains. The simplest measure is markings near the edge of the platform to demarkate the distance back from the platform edge that passengers should remain. Often a special tiled surface is used as well as a painted line, to help blind people using a walking aid, and aid in preventing wheelchairs from accidentally rolling too near the platform edge. A dangerous practice that sometimes occurs is sitting on the edge of the platform, which requires being fast enough in withdrawing the legs when a train arrives. Some metro stations have platform screen doors between the platforms and the tracks. They provide more safety; also they allow the heating or air conditioning on the station and the ventilation in the tunnel to be separated, thus being more efficient and effective. They have been installed in most stations of the Singapore MRT and the Hong Kong MTR, as shown in the photos below, and the newer stations forming the Jubilee Line Extension in London.

Curvature

London] Ideally platforms should be straight or slightly convex, so that the guard can see the whole train as he prepares to close the doors. Platforms that have great curvature have blind spots that create a safety hazard. Mirrors or closed-circuit cameras may be used in these cases to view the whole platform. Also passenger carriages are straight, and so doors will not always open directly onto a curved platform – often a gap is present. (Usually such platforms will have warning signs, possibly auditory, such as "Mind the gap"). In some cases, sections within the platform may be movable, so as to cover any gap; moving away again to allow the train to leave.

Length

The longest railway platform in the world (1072 metres) is at Kharagpur, West Bengal. The longest in the UK is at Gloucester railway station.

External links

- Schematic maps of all tracks, switches and platforms in the Netherlands: http://www.sporenplan.nl/html_nl/sporenplan/ns/ns_normaal/start.html (point at an area and open detail map in a new window) ja:プラットホーム Category:Rail transport

Subway (disambiguation)

The word subway has several possible meanings, depending on its context:
- In the U.S., some parts of Canada, and a few other places in the world, subway refers to an entire rapid transit railway (or sometimes light rail) public transport system, of the same sort known elsewhere as metros, undergrounds or tubes (mostly in the case of the London Underground and the Glasgow Subway), U-Bahnen, and various other local names. See also: List of rapid transit systems.
- Subway may also refer specifically to a tunnel or other underground structure built to carry either rapid transit or light rail vehicles, street tram, or even buses that go underground for part of their route.
- Particularly in British English (including Hong Kong), and also older American English, a subway is an underground passageway of any sort including those used to allow pedestrians to cross underneath roads or railway tracks.
- Subway is a multinational fast food restaurant chain of American origin that sells primarily submarine sandwiches (subs, hoagies, blimpies, bombs, grinders, etc.) and salads.
- Subway is a 1985 French movie by Luc Besson.
- Subway is the name of an acclaimed episode of the American TV series Homicide: Life on the Street that aired in the show's 1997–1998 season.
- The Subways, a British rock band.
- In Australian English, the word subway means a bridge which carries a railway over a road.

Bridge

:This article is about the edifice (it is mostly an index to articles concerning specific bridge types). For other meanings, see bridge (disambiguation). bridge (disambiguation) A bridge is a structure built to span a gorge, valley, road, railroad track, river, body of water, or any other physical obstacle. Designs may be built higher than otherwise needed in order to allow other traffic (particularly ship traffic) beneath. The purpose of a bridge is to allow easier passage by providing a continuous more uniform more easily navigable route via what would otherwise be an uneven or impossible path for the particular kind of thing travelling or being transported, whether people, vehicles, trains, ships, liquids or whatever else.

History

The first bridges were spans made of wooden logs or planks and eventually stones, using a simple support and crossbeam arrangement. The arch was first used by the Roman Empire for bridges and aqueducts, some of which still stand today. The Romans also had cement, which reduced the variation of strength found in natural stone. Brick and mortar bridges were built after the Roman era, as the technology for cement was lost then later rediscovered. Rope bridges, a simple type of suspension bridge, were used by the Inca civilization in the Andes mountains of South America, just prior to European colonization in the 1500s. During the 18th century there were many innovations in the design of timber bridges by Hans Ulrich, Johannes Grubenmann, and others. The first engineering book on building bridges was written by Hubert Gautier in 1716. With the rise of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, truss systems of wrought iron were developed for larger bridges, but iron did not have the tensile strength to support large loads. With the advent of steel, which has a high tensile strength, much larger bridges were built, many using the ideas of Gustave Eiffel.

Etymology

The Oxford English Dictionary traces the origin of the word bridge to an Old Norse word bryggja, meaning "landing stage, gangway, or movable pier".

Types of bridges

Bridges may be classified by their use or by their structure.

By use

A bridge is usually designed for trains, pedestrian or road traffic, a pipeline or waterway for water transport or barge traffic. In some cases there may be restrictions in use. For example, it may be a bridge carrying a highway and forbidden for pedestrians and bicycles, or a pedestrian bridge, possibly also for bicycles. An aqueduct is a bridge that carries water, resembling a viaduct.

Decorative and ceremonial bridges

To create a beautiful image, some bridges are built much taller than necessary. This type, often found in east-asian style gardens, is called a Moon bridge, evoking a rising full moon. Other garden bridges may cross only a dry bed of stream washed pebbles, intended only to convey an impression of a stream. Often in palaces a bridge will be built over an artificial waterway as symbolic of a passage to an important place or state of mind. A set of five bridges cross a sinuous waterway in an important courtyard of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. The central bridge was reserved exclusively for the use of the Emperor, Empress, and their attendants.

Index to types of bridges and bridge related topics

Image:NagasakiMeganebashi.jpg|Arch bridge Image:Pont_du_gard.jpg|Aqueduct Image:Baileycoppename.jpg|Bailey bridge Image:UniversityBridge-1Clip.jpg|Bascule bridge Image:Small footbridge.jpg|Beam bridge Image:Concrete box girder bridge.JPG|Box girder bridge Image:ThreeTwrBrCenter.jpg|Cable-stayed bridge Image:CaissonSchematic.jpg|Caisson Image:ForthBridgeEdinburgh.jpg|Cantilever bridge Image:Puente del Alamillo.jpg|Cantilever spar cable-stayed bridge Image:Tarr steps clapper bridge.jpg|Clapper bridge Image:Australia sydney-404.jpg|Compression arch suspended-deck bridge Image:Guilford vermont covered bridge 20040820.jpg|Covered bridge Image:CurlingBridgeClip.jpg|Curling bridge Image:Fort ticonderoga drawbridge to demilune.jpg|Drawbridge Image:Hoernbruecke.jpg|Folding bridge Image:IRBSideViewClip.jpg|Inca rope bridge Image:JetwayAtVancouverBC.jpg|Jetway Image:Guilford vermont bridge covered bridge interior 20040820.jpg|Lattice bridge Image:BNSFBridgeClip.jpg|Lift bridge Image:Vallorcine footpath bridge 2003-12-13.jpg|Log bridge Image:SFTGMoonBridge.jpg|Moon bridge Image:PlateGirderUnderTracks.jpg|Plate girder bridge Image:ArmyPontoonBr.jpg|Pontoon bridge Image:Uppsala Ultunabron02 2005-06-16.jpg|Retractable bridge
(Thrust bridge) Image:ProposedSFOBBEasternSpan.jpg|Self-anchored suspension bridge Image:SegmentalBridgeFtLauderdale.jpg|Segmental bridge Image:WinnepegBridge.jpg|Side-spar cable-stayed bridge Image:CapilanoBridge.jpg|Simple suspension bridge Image:StepStoneBridge.jpg|Step-stone bridge Image:BridgeSubmerging4.jpg|Submersible bridge Image:suspension.bridge.bristol.arp.750pix.jpg|Suspension bridge Image:Railway swing bridge.jpg|Swing bridge Image:Millenium_bridge_close.jpg|Tilt bridge Image:Paying Toll on passing a Bridge From a Painted Window in the Cathedral of Tournay Fifteenth Century.png|Toll bridge Image:Newport.transporter.750pix.jpg|Transporter bridge Image:AlhambraTrestle.jpg|Trestle Image:Eastbound_over_SCB.jpg|Truss arch bridge Image:RRTrussBridgeSideView.jpg|Truss bridge Image:Conwy Castle 2.jpg|Tubular bridge Image:Toronto-bloorviaduct.jpg|Viaduct Image:NoImageYetRectFramed.png|Weigh bridge Image:BoxerwoodDotComZigZag.jpg|Zig-zag bridge

Bridge structural and evolutionary taxonomy

Zig-zag bridge Bridges may be classified by how the four forces of tension, compression, bending and shear are distributed through their structure. Most bridges will employ all of the principle forces to some degree, but only a few will predominate. The separation of forces may be quite clear, as in a suspension or cable-stayed span; the elements in tension are distinct in shape and placement. In other cases the forces may be distributed among a large number of members, as in a truss, or not clearly discernible to a casual observer as in a box beam. Bridges can also be classified by their lineage, which is shown as the vertical axis on the diagram to the right.

Efficiency

A bridge's structural efficiency may be considered to be the ratio of load carried to bridge weight, given a specific set of material types. In one common challenge young students are to be divided into groups of two or three and then to be given a fixed quantity of wood sticks, a specific distance to span, and a given glue, and then to construct a bridge that will be tested to destruction by the progressive addition of load at the center of the span. The bridge taking the greatest load is by this test the most structurally efficient. A bridge's economic efficiency will be site and traffic dependent, the ratio of savings by having a bridge (instead of, for example, a ferry, or a longer road route) compared to its cost. For a given site, kind of bridge employed and the materials used determine the total cost, a lifetime cost composed of materials, labor, machinery, engineering, cost of money, maintenance, refurbishment, risk potential, and ultimately, demolition and associated disposal, recycling, and reuse. Bridges employing only compression are relatively inefficient structurally, but may be highly cost efficient where suitable materials are available near the site. For medium spans, trusses or box beams are usually most economical, while in some cases, the appearance of the bridge may be more important than its cost efficiency. The longest spans usually require suspension bridges.

Notable bridges

- Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge - Japan, with the longest section span of 1.9 km.
- Forth Railway Bridge - Scotland, one of the most famous cantilever bridges in the world.
- Golden Gate Bridge - USA, arguably the most beautiful of its type.
- The Iron Bridge - England, the world's first iron bridge.
- Confederation Bridge - Canada, world's longest bridge over waters that freeze.
- Jamuna Bridge- Bangladesh, longest rail-road bridge in south asia , 2nd longest in world.
- Lake Pontchartrain Causeway - USA, spanning Lake Pontchartrain in south Louisiana, it is the longest bridge in the world at 23.87 miles (38.41 km).
- Lupu Bridge- China, longest single steel arch.
- Mackinac Bridge - USA, Opened to traffic in 1957, connecting the two peninsulas of Michigan; held the title of the world's longest two tower suspension bridge between anchorages until the 1990s.
- Mahatma Gandhi Setu - India, the longest river bridge in the world.
- Menai Suspension Bridge - Wales, first road suspension bridge in the world.
- Millau Viaduct - France, tallest bridge in the world.
- Overtoun Bridge, - Scotland, dogs have leaped to their deaths from this bridge, leading to urban legends.
- Penang Bridge - Malaysia, longest bridge in Southeast Asia.
- Québec Bridge - Canada, largest cantilever bridge in the world.
- San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge - USA, especially for seismic retrofit and eastern span replacement.
- Sundial Bridge - USA, a dramatic single cantilever spar cable stayed span for pedestrians.
- Sydney Harbour Bridge - Australia, arguably the best-known suspended-deck compression arch bridge.
- Tacoma Narrows Bridge - USA, famous for its collapse due to aerodynamic effects.
- Tatara Bridge - Japan, largest span cable-stayed bridge.
- Tower Bridge - London, England, and a symbol of this city.
- Tyne Bridge - England, one of Northern England's most iconic structures.
- Trajan's bridge - Romania, ancient Roman bridge over the river Danube, only fragments visible.
- Vasco da Gama Bridge - Portugal, the longest bridge in Europe at 17.2 km.
- Victoria Falls Bridge - linking Zimbabwe to Zambia, built in 1905 as part of the projected Cape-Cairo railway.
- Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge - USA, built during Boston's Big Dig, the widest cable-stayed bridge.

External links

- [http://www.structurae.de/en/ Structurae] - International Database and Gallery of Structures.
- [http://www.asce.org/history/hp_bridges.html American Society of Civil Engineers] History and Heritage of Civil Engineering - Bridges
- [http://www.historicbridges.org/index.htm Historic Bridges of Michigan and Elsewhere] Photos, information, and maps of historic bridges in and around Michigan. Also has a links page with links to bridge databases in other regions of the U.S.A.
- [http://www.brantacan.co.uk/bridges.htm Bridge Building — Art and Science] Comprehensive explanations about bridges.
- [http://www.garrettsbridges.com/index.html Model Bridge Building]
- [http://pghbridges.com/basics.htm Bridge Basics] A guide to bridge terminology and styles
- [http://www.chinapage.com/bridge/shanghai/lupu/lupu.html Shanghai lupu] Chinese bridge site showing suspended deck arch construction and completion.
- [http://www.bridgebuilder-game.com BridgeBuilder] - Great game where you design a bridge and see if a train will drive over it safely.
- [http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/RRbridge/ RRbridge]- Discussion group focused on railroad bridges, trestles, and viaducts. Hosted by Yahoo! Groups
- [http://filebox.vt.edu/users/aschaeff/titlepage.html Bridge disasters]
- [http://www.nireland.com/bridgeman/Dictionary.htm A dictionary of bridge terms]
- [http://bridges.lib.lehigh.edu/BookListpage.html/ Digital Bridge Library at Lehigh University]
- [http://bobjagendorf.smugmug.com/gallery/119358 Bridge Photos]
- [http://flickr.com/photos/tags/bridge Flickr: Photos tagged with bridge] Category:Buildings and structures
- Category:Coastal construction ko:다리 ms:Jambatan ja:橋 simple:Bridge th:สะพาน

Level crossing

The term level crossing (also called: railroad crossing, railway crossing or grade crossing) is a crossing on one level (or "at grade") - without recourse to a bridge or tunnel - used to describe the crossing of a railway line by a road, path, or other railroad. It also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way (or a reserved track tramway) crosses a road; the term "metro" usually means by definition that there are no level crossings (i.e. that the system is grade-separated).

Safety

The original design for a level crossing consisted of a flagman in a nearby booth who would, on the approach of a train, race out with a stop sign or red lantern and (attempt to) stop all traffic and clear the tracks. Manual or electrical closable gates which barricaded the roadway were later introduced. The gates were intended to be a complete barrier against intrusion of any road traffic onto the railway. With the appearance of motor vehicles, this barrier became less and less effective, and therefore pointless. Rising wage levels made the continuance of the older style crossing financially impossible. The decision was reached to substitute comparatively flimsy, but highly visible, unmanned barriers operated by the approach of a train but which are not linked with the railway signalling system, and to rely on road users following the associated warning signals to stop. In some cases the barrier only closes across the approach lane, and the other lane has no barrier. This is intended to allow slow vehicles to escape from a crossing when the barriers are dropping. It unfortunately allows impatient drivers to zig-zag round the half barriers to avoid any delay, and provides a potential collision risk. In many countries, on less important roads and railway lines, level crossings are often "open" or "uncontrolled" but these have warning lights or bells to warn of approaching trains. Ungated crossings represent a safety issue; many accidents have occurred due to failure to notice or obey the warning. Railways in the United States are adding reflectors to the side of each train car to help prevent accidents at level crossings. In some countries, such as Ireland, instead of an open crossing there may be manually operated gates, which the motorist must open and close. These too have significant risks, as they are unsafe to use without possessing a knowledge of the train timetable: motorists may be instructed to telephone the railway signaller, but may not always do so. The consensus in contemporary railway design is to avoid the use of level crossings. The director of rail safety at the UK Railway Inspectorate commented in 2004 that "the use of level crossings contributes the greatest potential for catastrophic risk on the railways." Eighteen people were killed in the UK on level crossings in the 2003-4 period. Bridges and tunnels are favoured, and there is a commitment on the part of UK rail authorities not to build new level crossings, and to reduce the number of existing level crossings from the present 8,200. The cost of making significant reductions, other than by simply closing the crossings, would be substantial, and a number of commentators argue that the money could be better spent. Some 6,500 of the 8,200 crossings are user-worked crossings or footpaths, with very low usage. In November 2004 there were two major accidents on UK level crossings: one involved a car driver suspected of being a suicide, who caused the death of seven people (see Ufton Nervet rail crash); another involving a train carrying 50 school children resulted in no fatalities but a number of injuries. These incidents have increased efforts to review the placing of level crossings and to eliminate them where this is practicable. In the UK it has also been suggested that cameras similar to the type used to detect drivers who run traffic lights be deployed at level crossings, and that penalties for ignoring signals should be much more severe. Third rail systems may also have level crossings: there is a gap in the third rail over the level crossing, but in spite of that the power supply is not interrupted since trains have current collectors in the front and rear cars; however, care must be taken that a current or voltage gap is not created between the two ends. At railway stations a pedestrian level crossing is sometimes provided to allow passengers to reach other platforms in the absence of an underpass or bridge.

Crossings around the world

United States

United States In the United States, and in countries following US practices, a train must have a bright headlight, and a whistle or horn must be sounded as the train approaches the crossing. Some American cities, citing noise pollution abatement, have passed laws prohibiting the sounding of bells and whistles, however their ability to enforce such rules is debatable. In December of 2003, The US Federal Railroad Administration published regulations that would create areas where train horns could be silenced, provided that certain safety measures were put in place. More information can be found at the FRA website and following the page link under 'Train horn rule.' Implementation of the new "Quiet Zone" Final Rule was delayed repeatedly, but finally implemented in the summer of 2005. All crossings in the United States are required to be marked by at least a crossbuck. Most crossings that intersect rural roads have this setup. As traffic on the road crossing or the rail crossing increases, safety features are ramped up accordingly. More densely populated crossings have alternately flashing red lights to warn motorists, and a bell to warn pedestrians. Additional safety is attained through boomgates that block motorists approach to the tracks when activated. Increasingly, crossings are being fitted with so-called four-quadrant gates, with a gate mechanism on either side of the tracks for each direction of automotive traffic. The exit gates blocking the road leading away from the tracks in this application are equipped with a delay, and begin their descent to their horizontal position several seconds after the entrance gates do, so as to avoid trapping highway vehicles on the crossing. Four-quadrant gates prevent vehicles from driving around lowered gates to try to beat a train. A handful of level crossings still use a wigwag signal, which was developed in the early 1900s by the Pacific Electric Railway interurban system in the Los Angeles region to protect its many level crossings. Though now considered to be antique, around 100 such signals are still in use, almost all on branch lines. By law, these signals must be replaced by the now-standard alternating red lights when they are retired. A track that will run high-speed trains in excess of 120 mph (193 km/h) is being tested in Illinois between Chicago and Saint Louis. Here, due to the high speed of the trains, gates that totally prevent road traffic from reaching the tracks are mandatory on all level crossings, and steel mesh nets are being tested on the busier crossings to further prevent collisions.

Australia

Australia]In Melbourne, Australia, there are several level crossings where the train tracks cross tram tracks on the road. These crossings require trains to travel very slowly to avoid tangling the overhead cables. Australian railroading generally follows United States practice, and has increasingly been employing American-made crossing warning equipment, such as grade crossing predictors, which attempt to provide a consistent amount of warning time for a trains of widely varying speeds. One recent innovation in Australia is to provide crossbucks with flashing yellow lights at a distance from the level crossing itself, particularly where there are curves and visibility problems.

New Zealand

In parts of rural New Zealand, roads and railways share the same road space when crossing a river; the rails are run in the road and both motorists and the train driver must ensure that the bridge is clear, end to end, before starting to cross. There are several examples in South Island including the Taieri Gorge line

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, China.]]China Level crossings in China, Thailand and Malaysia are still largely a manual matter. The barriers are lowered using a manual switch when trains approach. A significant number of crossings are without barriers.

Accidents

- Hixon rail crash - 1968
- Fox River Grove level crossing accident - 1995
- Bourbonnais train accident - 1999
- Gerogery level crossing accident - 2001
- Ufton Nervet rail crash - 2004
- Glendale train crash - 2005
- Polgahawela level crossing collision, Sri Lanka - 2005: a bus tries to beat the train at a level crossing; at least 35 people are killed.
- Johannesburg level crossing accident - 2005: 9 killed

External links

- [http://www.unescap.org/tctd/pubs/safetytoc.htm Cost-effective Systems for Railway Level-Crossing Protection] from the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
- [http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/officeofsafety/ Train horn rule] at the US Federal Railroad Administration
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3991147.stm Fatal example of crossings danger] - News story from the BBC on a 2004 accident in which 7 people died.
- [http://www.levelcrossings.nsw.gov.au Level Crossing Strategy Council] - New South Wales, Australia. Category:Level crossings Category:Road infrastructure Category:Rail infrastructure Category:Road accidents ja:踏切

Shelter

Shelter can refer to several things:
- A place that protects, to a larger or smaller extent, against some or all of the following:
- the weather (precipitation, wind, heat, cold)
- intruding humans and animals, etc. :Examples:
- A place in which people live, a house.
- A place of refuge, such as a women's shelter for abused women or a homeless shelter for vagrants.
- A shortened name for an animal shelter, which usually houses stray pets.
- A place to stand or sit when:
- waiting at public transport stops for a bus (bus shelter), tram (tram stop), train (shelter on a railway platform), taxi (taxi stand), ferryboat / water taxi, etc.
- having a cigarette.
- War related
- Air-raid shelter
- Fallout shelter
- Blast shelter
- A mountain shelter
- Shelter (charity) is a British charity campaigning to end homelessness and bad housing.
- Shelter (band) is a hardcore Hare Krishna band. Category:Buildings and structures

Waiting room

Queue areas are areas in which people queue (first-come, first-served), that is they wait in line for something. Examples include checking out the groceries or other goods that have been collected in a self-service shop, in a shop without self-service, at an ATM, at a ticket desk, or in a taxi stand. In economics, queuing is seen as one way to ration scarce goods and services. Whether there is a neat line, or just a crowd where being bold helps in being served first, depends on culture and on lay-out of the taxi stand, store, etc. Queuing is a common phenomenon in a number of fields, and has been extensively analyzed, in the study of queuing theory. queuing theory Highly organized queue areas are commonly found at amusement parks. Their rides only have a fixed capacity of guests that can be served at any given time. If more people come in than can be served in a given length of time, a line begins to form, and thus amusement parks feel the need to control those lines in some manner or other. This leads to the development of formalized queue areas – areas in which the lines of people waiting to board the rides are organized by railings, and may be given shelter from the elements with a roof over their heads. In some amusement parks – Walt Disney World is an example – queue areas can be elaborately decorated, thus potentially shortening the perceived wait for some people in the queue, by giving people something interesting to look at while they are in line. Some of the longest queues can be found at the terminals for cruise ships, where elaborate security precautions are necessary in order to prevent hijackings, stowaways, and terrorist attacks. Also, it is customary to photograph passengers at the gangplank for souvenir photos further slowing the queue. gangplank In many cases, there are many separate lines for getting to service points. Large stores and supermarkets may have dozens of separate queues. This can cause frustration for some people, as different lines tend to be handled at different speeds: some people are served quickly, but others may get stuck waiting for long periods of time. Sometimes two people who are together each wait in a different line, and later the one in the slower line joins the other. The arrangement can be made more fair, evening out the good and bad luck, if everyone waiting to be served is put in one line, and one person leaves the queue each time a service point opens up. This is a common setup in banks, and some businesses that commonly have many separate queues will make this sort of arrangement in high-traffic times of year, such as the end-of-year holiday season. Line or queue jumping or cutting in line is the frowned-upon practice of moving ahead of one or more people in line without their permission. The term "queue" is more used in the European Union, while the word "line" is used mostly in North America.

Virtual queueing

Instead of physical queueing there may be virtual queueing. In a waiting room there may be the system that one asks and remembers after whom one is, or one reports to a desk and is called when it is one's turn, or one takes a ticket with a number from a machine. It applies at the doctor/hospital, and at offices where many people visit, like the town hall, social security office, labor exchange, or post office. A display usually shows the current number. An advantage is that one can sit down (if there are seats), go to another counter or shop for which this queuing system does not apply, browse and collect leaflets, etc., inside or even outside the room. In the latter case one has to be back in time, because if one is too late one has to start at the end of the queue again with a new ticket. Sometimes there are different tickets, hence different queues, for different services; the ticket may show a letter for the service and a sequential number. In that case not always all current numbers are displayed, and it is less convenient to estimate the remaining waiting time. This applies even more if the same desk may handle several services, so e.g. after b13 has been handled, the holder of b14 may still have to wait, because c17 and c18 come in between.

Other waiting rooms

Waiting rooms without maintaining an order of arrival or of being served are in train stations, bus depots, airports, and other public transport terminals. Some waiting rooms are restricted to ticketed passengers, especially at airports and in depots of major cities.

Union station

:For other meanings, see Union Station. See list of Union Stations for a specific station with the name. A union station or union terminal is a train station where tracks and facilities are shared by two or more railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently between them. Often the station is used by all passenger trains serving the city, but this is not necessarily true; in particular, commuter trains in Chicago, Illinois, for example, still use four different terminals. In North American practice a union station is usually owned by a separate corporation whose shares are owned by the different railways which use it, so that the costs and benefits of its operations are shared proportionately among them. This contrasts with the system of trackage rights or running rights, where one railway company owns a line or facility, but allows another to company to share it under a contractual agreement. However, the company that owns the union station and associated trackage does assign trackage rights to the railroads that use it. In the United Kingdom the term used is joint station. In Germany, the term Hauptbahnhof differs from the English term Union Station. Instead it means the most important and usually most frequently used station of a city.

External links

- [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a800729.html The Straight Dope: Why do so many cities have a "Union Station"?]

Tram

:For other meanings of tram, see tram (disambiguation). tram (disambiguation), Finland]] Finland. It delivers parts to the Transparent Factory]] A tram (tramcar, trolley, or streetcar) is a railborne vehicle, lighter than a train, designed for the transport of passengers (and/or, very occasionally, freight) within, close to, or between villages, towns and/or cities. Trams are distinguished from other forms of railway systems in that they travel wholly or partly along tracks laid down in streets, usually on track reserved for the tram system. A cable car is a special type of tram. Tram systems are common throughout Europe and were common throughout the western world in the early 20th century. Although they disappeared from many cities for many years in the mid 20th century, in recent years they have made a comeback. The terms "tram" and "tramway" were originally Scots and Northern English words for the type of truck used in coal mines and the tracks on which these trucks ran — probably derived from a North Sea Germanic word of unknown origin meaning the "beam or shaft of a barrow or sledge", also "a barrow or truck body". The sense of "streetcar" is first recorded in 1860.

History

1860]] Appearing in the first half of the 19th century, trams were at first pulled by horses. 19th century The first trams, known as streetcars or horsecars, were built in the US, and developed from city

Railway stations

Development

Superlatives

Terminal stations

Station facilities

Configurations of train stations

Accessibility

See also

American English

History

Phonology

Differences in British English and American English

English words that arose in the U.S.

English words obsolete outside the U.S.

Regional differences

See also

Further reading

References

External links

Train

Types of trains

Motive power

Passenger trains

See also

Freight trains

Famous train routes

Fictional trains

See also

Further reading

External links

Passenger

Terminal station

Rail services

Continuing service with reversed direction

See also

Railway platform

Characteristics

Facilities

Types of platform

Platform safety

Curvature

Length

See also

External links

Subway (disambiguation)

Bridge

History

Etymology

Types of bridges

By use

Decorative and ceremonial bridges

Index to types of bridges and bridge related topics

Bridge structural and evolutionary taxonomy

Efficiency

Notable bridges

See also

External links

Level crossing

Safety

Crossings around the world

United States

Australia

New Zealand

Southeast Asia

See also

Accidents

External links

Shelter

Waiting room

Virtual queueing

Other waiting rooms

See also

Union station

External links

Tram

History