TCRP A-40 Manual to Improve Rail Transit Safety at Platform/Train Interfaces: Summary of Platform-Train Interface Incidents

The overall goal of the project is to develop a manual for the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) that will allow practitioners to improve safety at rail public transportation platform/train and platform/guideway interfaces. Specific objectives include expanding upon previous safety studies and providing recommendations for mitigation strategies. Key factors that affect safety in relation to the platform-vehicle interface (PTI) have been identified through data collection. For the purpose of this study PTI refers to incidents related to the interface between the train and platform also known as gap incidents. Factors were analyzed to determine appropriate measures that would allow transit agencies to both prevent and minimize consequences of these incidents. This paper focuses primarily on platform vehicle interface incident data that were collected from four large transit operators in the United States.