High-floor - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

High-floor is an expression used to distinguish tram

Tram

A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

, light rail

Light rail

Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...

and other rail

Rail transport

Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...

vehicles, along with bus

Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

es and trolleybus

Trolleybus

A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...

es, built to formerly conventional design, from their counterparts of low-floor design.

A rail vehicle of high-floor design usually has a flat floor between 76 cm (29.9 in) and 137 cm (53.9 in) above the top of the railhead

Railhead

The word railhead is a railway term with two distinct meanings, depending upon its context.Sometimes, particularly in the context of modern freight terminals, the word is used to denote a terminus of a railway line, especially if the line is not yet finished, or if the terminus interfaces with...

. For reasons of accessibility

Accessibility

Accessibility is a general term used to describe the degree to which a product, device, service, or environment is available to as many people as possible. Accessibility can be viewed as the "ability to access" and benefit from some system or entity...

, an attempt is made to standardize the height, to allow a stair stepless entry from high platforms. The increased construction cost of high platforms, and the difficulty of making them compatible with other features of the urban landscape

Urban design

Urban design concerns the arrangement, appearance and functionality of towns and cities, and in particular the shaping and uses of urban public space. It has traditionally been regarded as a disciplinary subset of urban planning, landscape architecture, or architecture and in more recent times has...

, are a significant obstacle to the conversion of existing tram networks into urban rail networks, particularly when many of the stations or stops are in the streets.

These problems were a major motivation for the development of low-floor tram

Low-floor tram

A low-floor tram is a tram that has no stair steps between one or more entrances and part or all of the passenger cabin. The low-floor design improves the accessibility of the tram for the public, and also may provide larger windows and more airspace....

s, which allow transit operators to avoid the retrofitting of high platforms on existing routes, while still providing improved accessibility. However, for a newly-constructed route, a route primarily located in tunnels, or a route with a dedicated right of way

Right of Way

Right of Way is a 1983 television film drama starring Bette Davis and James Stewart, and directed by George Schaefer.The TV movie stars film veterans Davis and Stewart as an elderly long-married couple who must decide how to deal with the situation of one of them being diagnosed with a terminal...

and enough space, high platforms are usually preferred, since high-floor vehicles are cheaper to manufacture, and have better operating characteristics.

High platforms do have significant advantages beyond wheelchair accessibility. Mobility-impaired passengers (e.g. those using canes or who have difficulties climbing stairs) also benefit, as do travelers pulling wheeled luggage or small folding shopping carts. Even fully able-bodied passengers can board a railcar more rapidly if they do not have to climb stairs to enter, reducing dwell time at a stop, and reducing overall travel time. In addition, high-platform railcars have more floor space for passengers if space is not required for stairways, and wheelwells needed to accommodate railcar bogie

Bogie

A bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. In mechanics terms, a bogie is a chassis or framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle. It can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck, mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage/car or locomotive, or sprung as in the suspension of a caterpillar...

Use in Germany

Today, in Germany, all rapid transit

Rapid transit

A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...

railways, most commuter trains, and many light rail vehicles operate as high-floor networks. A notable exception is the city railway in Cologne; in the mid-1990s, it was decided to divide that city's partially high platform network into two separate networks: high-floor and low-floor.

In contrast with some light rail underground lines, which are often provisionally equipped with low platforms or with tracks laid on raised ballast, there are new developments in the German cities of Dusseldorf (Wehrhahn line, under construction) and Dortmund (east-west line). In each of these cities, a new underground light rail line is equipped with platforms for low-floor trams and will be permanently operated with low floor vehicles. This form of design and construction will avoid the need for subsequent rebuilding of stops on tram routes, even though both cities already have underground lines with high-floor platforms.

Use in Germany

See also