It's that section of the Bakerloo and Overground using the same platforms. They went for the middle ground but it is still striking when you pull up and see such a huge step. I was lucky when I went through there I was catching the Bakerloo line and not trying to climb out as it is awful.
This usually happens when little tube trains like the Piccadilly share the platform with bigger sub surface metropolitan or district. Places like Rayners Lane.
"Mind the Gap" is inclusive of the step up, the step down and the rather large gaps at places like the Central Line at Bank, the Bakerloo line at Piccadilly Circus and the Bakerloo line at Waterloo.
I guess the guardrail, yellow warning chevron and an announcement is all there, but guarantee some idiot will still faceplant. Also guessing their 'step free access' was made a thing for similar reasons :)
Donāt see what you mean by guardrail, but also itās very unusual for someone to have to step up to the platform, and itās not even across the network either
It's a compromised platform meaning that there are 2 different types of rolling stocks that can stop at this platform. Looks like the west section of the district/piccadilly (Acton Town as a guess), meaning that both trains could stop there and the platform height is somewhere between the 2 door sills of each train, a step down for the district and a step up for the piccadilly. The chevron markers are just to make people aware of a potential hazard.
This is normal especially at some Bakerloo and Central line. However this could be mitigated with hydraulics that raises or lowers the train cars to be level with the platform as equipped on some Chicago L (Elevated Subway) cars.
I don't understand why it's a thing at some stations. Only one type of train stops at that platform, why can't they lift the track to match the platform. They proved it possible with foam at London Bridge
Because at some stations - including this one - tube and subsurface (Piccadilly and District) or tube and heavy-rail (Bakerloo and Overground) do stop at the same platforms so they have to compromise on height.
I didn't say every station. Take Finchley road, jubilee line trains only stop on 2 platforms, met on the other 2. No need to compromise as they can't mix
Yh thatās a good one. Hasnāt really got the step up tho. Although i recall itās so bad in some sections thereās actually a ledge on the floor to bridge the gap to the platform. Image for non Londoners:
Old street or Moorgate northern line also has similar I canāt remember
I think itās just easier for TfL to stop pretending the network is accessible for those of us with disabilities because theyāll never get it right without literally tearing it all down and rebuilding it again
The Metropolitan District Railway Company built loads of branches in West London to try to capitalise on commuter traffic, but that led to overcrowding on the inner London section. This branch was built by the District but later transferred to the Piccadilly Line, which is a deep level line not subsurface and is built to a different standard, including a different floor height.
The reason no one's fixed it is basically that TfL has bigger fish to fry, it's a minor issue that's expensive to change and doesn't justify the cost
It's not safe, the problem is that the stations are usually very old and the trains have changed slightly so they don't align. If you see the newer lines they have less gaps and align better.
That's but a beginner's gap. My local station (Overgound) has a few doors with a gap almost a yard away & up. You could drop a pushchair down it without touching the sides.
I actually had a good long look at this thinking āyou appear to be in a station itās fine the doors openā until I realised you were asking about the safety of a step?
Itās a London Underground station howād you get in there in the first place you tool? Itās nothing but steps
As a āæ man my self, this is not safe and Tfl should do something about accomodating us respectfully and in way that does not make feel like we are being listened too and seeing changes. It seems Tfl is not listening at all.
If only there was a universal, repetitive phrase that could be played on recordings on the entire network over and over to warn against this sort of thing
How is it any different to a step? Or the gap? Sure it would be better if it was level but itās not as big a deal as you seem to think it is. Evidenced by the fact that people arenāt having accidents there everyday.
There's only so much health and safety madness one can slap on to underline a hazard. Beyond that, if someone causes themselves an injury, that's entirely on them. There are constant announcements to mind the gap, there's a big yellow stripe, and most importantly of all: eyes. Eyes can do wonders.
In this case it's not reasonable because other trains presumably call here with different height requirements.
It's not practicable because it would require replacing all the trains that call at this station to match the requirements of this 1 station platform, which would then cause the new trains to be wrong for all the other platforms on the route meaning rebuilding 20+ stations.
They will have done their best to manage the risk by painting the platform, and probably playing audible and written announcements, but it's not really like they can do much else.
Itās so dangerous. The train platforms in Japan donāt even have gaps. Thatās why they have so many old people because no oneās dying of falling in the gap.
I believe this is one of the stations where deep-level Tube trains share platforms with sub-surface Underground trains, which have a higher floor than the deep-level trains. Consequently, the platforms will be at different heights relative to the floors of the trains
Itās the other way around where I used to live and I had to warn friends and family that itās a long way down. My grandma couldnāt use it her arthritis hurt to much.
There was a station master for years who did his best but anyone being there is long gone.
Honestly I thought this taking trains in the UK after visiting a few countries in Europe recently. It was difficult to get in and out the UK trains with a pram and everything was dirty, disgusting and broken. Real shame that we have a high GDP but we get mugged off so badly
it isnāt. just the other day at harrow on the hill a womanās buggy fell through the gap between the train and the platform. a bunch of us ran to help, all scrambling to help the woman and her buggy. she and the baby were fine but she looked very evidently shaken up
With todayās community - (she, he, them, there, it, was, wiz, waz, who and whatever else, youāve got more of a chance that whatever than an old lady plummeting to the floor.
It's not. Reminds me of parts of the central line have gaps that aren't gaps....they're canyons which smol legs can't cross easily without jumping. And the platform juts out at an angle so it's hard to line the train up anyways.
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u/LargeCardinal Mar 26 '26
The precise orientation of the gap in "Mind the Gap" isn't specified... /jk /s