page_title: Platform gap
section_title: Specifications and limits
hierarchical_section_title: Platform gap / Specifications and limits
caption_attribution_description: Subway in New York.
context_page_description: A platform gap is the space between a train car and the edge of the station platform, often created by geometric constraints, historic legacies, or use of partially compatible equipment.
  Many high-quality bus rapid transit systems also use high platforms at station stops to allow fast and efficient level boarding and alighting, but potentially leaving hazardous gaps between the platforms and the buses. Alignment setups such as Kassel curbs help to reduce platform gaps without requiring time-consuming manual alignment at each BRT station stop.
context_section_description: In the US, the Americans with Disabilities Act requires that platforms be “readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, including individuals who use wheelchairs (49 CFR Part 37, Appendix A, 10.3.1 (9))”.  However, this rule only applies to new construction or major renovations of stations. A 2009 report to the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) observes that ADA rules specify that "At stations with high level platforms, there may be a gap of no more than 3” horizontal and 5/8” vertical between platform edge and entrance to the rail car. However, currently no passenger rail system in the U.S. has been able to achieve this without the use of manually operated 'bridge plates'.”
  As of 2007, the US Federal Railway Administration recommended platform gap maximum limits of 7–10 inches (18–25 cm), and 10–13 inches (25–33 cm) on curves.
caption: The severe concave platform curvature at 14th Street–Union Square requires gap fillers at regular intervals
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