A primer for station design - rail transit stations

Railway Age, March, 1993 by Stanley Allan

* Accessibility and lighting. The Americans with Disabilities Act legislation of 1990 addresses the issue of safety and accessibility for potential patrons of all ages and physical condition. There is an ever-increasing percentage of the population over the age of 65, with the attendant decrease of physical abilities as well as visual and aural perceptions. The very real visceral satisfaction of feeling safe and secure is especially important among the elderly.

The quality of the lighting defines the spaces and creates a good or bad psychological response through the eyes and other senses of the users. This physical response, in underground spaces especially, becomes increasingly harmonious when the paths of travel in the station are the most direct, giving the user a clear sense of orientation and a feeling of calm enjoyment appropriate for the functional purpose of a station.

* Trainscreens revisited. In the preliminary design period of every new system, the pros and cons of trainscreens are often pondered, studied, talked about, and then forgotten. However, at the old Yellow Line Stations in St. Petersburg, and the below-grade stations in Singapore and Lille, trainscreens along the platform edge make the platform into a sort of lobby, isolating the trainway action. The trainscreen doors and car doors are matched through the medium of the precision obtained by automatic train operation systems. This design idea can work well in new start-ups, with uniform conditions at every station, giving special regard to safety requirements for the visually handicapped and the general safety of all patrons. There are numerous side benefits:

- The trainway area does not require any architectural finishes or lighting.

- The heat generated by railcar traction motors and air conditioners does not flow into the platform space.

- The climate can be more readily controlled in the much smaller platform area-especially in steamy, humid cities like Singapore. The conditioned air on the platform matches the air inside the trains.

- Structural columns along the platform edge, as part of the trainscreen configuration, are an economical construction advantage. Examples of this design idea can be seen at U.S. airport customized shuttle lines in Atlanta, Orlando, Chicago, and Seattle.

* Mixed-use complexes. Stations are a means to an end, and not an end in themselves. On a much larger scale, evidence of this is found in the rapid worldwide growth of complex mixed-use configurations being built (or already built) by private enterprise. There, the station platforms are embedded in the configuration as a supporting transportation facility. In Tokyo, an entire multi-block area is undergirded by an interlocking network of urban subway and Japan National Railway stations, plus bus links and parking facilities. These elements are connected by miles of underground passageways flanked by hundreds of shops, restaurants, and entertainment places, as well as 20 50-story office towers and hotels, including the massive new Tokyo City Government Center.