JR West Movable platform to aid people with movement difficulties

[JR 500系]

This is a good idea for a pilot project! Eliminates the need for the conductor to come with the portable ramp which is the current protocol... 

 

 

[Yavianice]

Very nice, though I wonder how reliable it is over the long term? A more universal way would be to mount these on the trains, so that handicapped people can also exit the train easily at any station. Extending "door" parts are common on some European trains, such as the Talent family seen here. Sure you don't need to have it on every door but maybe the one that are for handicapped people (of course it takes longer to close the doors when departing). 

 

I guess there are upsides and downsides to both systems. At least they are improving the situation for handicapped people, which is always good.

 

 

[JR East]

The major part of trains in France are not disabled-friendly (see pictures, it's explicit). For bus and new trams, it's a build-in feature now, and it really make the disabled life easier. The parisian metro (RER is a bit better) is also a nightmare for disable people as 6 metro station are really disabled-friendly (ortherwise there are plenty of stairs everywhere). 

 

JM

[disturbman]

The stations of the historic lines cannot be really made disabled-friendly/wheelchaired accessible. Berlin is much better for that, stations have central platforms and no ticketed gates. It allows for the creation of direct lift accesses from the street above. Though they are horribly slow and crowded by perfectly valid teenagers and other selfish people.
 

15 hours ago, Yavianice said:

Very nice, though I wonder how reliable it is over the long term? A more universal way would be to mount these on the trains, so that handicapped people can also exit the train easily at any station.

It's a good question. As far as I know, one issue on train maintenance are the doors, they are heavily used and abused and break down easily. It would be easier to maintain such raising platform without having to send trains to the depot for repairs.

Edited November 30, 2021 by disturbman

[Yavianice]

1 hour ago, disturbman said:

It would be easier to maintain such raising platform without having to send trains to the depot for repairs.

Would it? This would rise many times in a day, all day long, for every train. It's also larger and more prone to dirt (I guess) than the extension piece of a door. At least trains get downtime at some point during the day (outside rush hour), and closing a part of the platform to fix it would be quite a hassle (also with the trains coming by all the time/having to stop the work, and obstructing everyone that gets in or out at that door. Imagine being in a wheelchair inside the train, only to find out you cannot exit the station because there is a maintenance crew/tooling in the way). 

 

Sure you can fix it at the end of the day but then nobody would be able to use it, which would be an issue in super busy stations (where breakdowns are more likely to occur because of the frequency of trains and heavy usage).

Another issue is that this requires all trains to be the same specs/stop in the same area/have the wheelchair area in the same spot which they don't always have to be (in Ltd Exp + Local train usage, or older trains/newer trains. Sure I know most of them are the same but there are some mixed platforms out there too).

 

This is all hypotheticals, I am in no way an expert, these are just my thoughts really. I don't even know how reliable those extension parts are on doors, though I have never encountered a broken one.

Edited November 30, 2021 by Yavianice

[disturbman]

Good points. But I was mostly thinking that this could be deployed on lines that are dedicated to specific types of traffic, like subway lines and/or suburban lines, where this can be set at the front door and the stopping area can be fixed for all trains. Which is already the case nowadays with the metal plates since the driver needs to place them. It could also probably be triggered by the driver as need be, and not every time, while keeping a metal plate at hand in case of a breakdown.

[Yavianice]

On those lines it would make more sense to just build a ramp into the platform door portal, without needing any kind of special moving apparatus. Busy lines such as those should be equipped with them anyway to protect wheelchair users from falling off during crowds or when the platform is sloped (thinking of twisting metro networks in Tokyo specifically). 

 

Idk it seems rather overdesigned and niche for PR purposes rather than really useful in bulk/real world 😄 Would save money in case you can't be bothered to raise the platform level. European train stations compensate this by putting a small ramp in a specific spot or on the edge. 

[disturbman]

 

5 hours ago, Yavianice said:

Would save money in case you can't be bothered to raise the platform level.

 

Or it could be a stop-gap (:grin:) solution for those networks that cannot pay for platform reworks, like the Berlin subway.

Otherwise, yes, I agree, it seems totally over-engineered. I was not even sure it was needed at the station they demonstrated it, from what I coudl tell, I have seen wheelchairs/electric trolleys able to pass this kind of height difference without a blink.

[katoftw]

Train the the vid is a 323 series. So pretty standardised for JR Wests network. 321, 221, 223, 225 and 227s all run very similar dimensions.

 

This covers all of Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe and Nara.

 

Also, we don't know enough a out the system to really push strong negative comments on its applications or posibilities.

 

In the video, it shows the ramp adjusting its length and height to the footplate, so other application must be achievable.

[JR East]

14 hours ago, disturbman said:

Otherwise, yes, I agree, it seems totally over-engineered. 

On thing is strange too. If you look at the bottom of the door, you see a raised door guide with go-trough openings. First of all, a raised bar is never ideal on a side door, it's far better to have a hollow guide which doens't really caused issues. 

 

Moreover, I rather prefer a built-in train system. I'm totally in line with this 'over engineering' remarks. The simpler you make it, the better it is. This moving part of the platform requires people not to step on it, etc ... whereas the build-in is not passenger's dependant. 

 

Anyway, it's another step forward to make the city disabled compliant what I'll never ever blame. 

 

JM

[kuro68000]

JR is introducing automated ramps for wheelchair users. Video in the article.

 

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20211129/k10013366241000.html

 

It looks really cool, a great solution. I've seen wheelchair users on JR trains and always felt sorry for them. They have to get the station staff to bring a ramp. It's extremely well organized, they seem to be waiting at the destination station with the ramp ready, but obviously it's not ideal because it all has to be planned ahead.

 

It must also be quite embarrassing for the user. Japanese people don't like to make a fuss or trouble others. This gives wheelchair users the freedom to travel on JR trains without assistance.

 

moderator note: merged here from another topic