Misplaced Pages

Platform gap filler

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Rich Farmbrough (talk | contribs) at 19:47, 20 November 2006 (Date the maintenance tags using AWB). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 19:47, 20 November 2006 by Rich Farmbrough (talk | contribs) (Date the maintenance tags using AWB)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Template:Wikify is deprecated. Please use a more specific cleanup template as listed in the documentation.
This article has not been added to any content categories. Please help out by adding categories to it so that it can be listed with similar articles.
This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Platform gap filler" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Gap fillers, as used on the NYC Subway, are moveable platform extensions which are utilized in certain stations where the curvature of the platform creates a significant gap between the platform and subway car door.

Historical

The IRT's first cars were built with only two doors on each side which were located at the extreme ends of the car. These doors would sufficiently line up with the curved platforms so as not to leave a wide gap between the train and the platform. When the IRT modified existing cars and future car orders to contain a middle door, the gap fillers were needed because the middle door would not be near the platform. When the City of New York bought the IRT in 1940 and eventually went to a new design (starting with the R12) the end doors were moved away from the extreme ends of the carbody. This also required the use of gap fillers at certain stations.

Stations with gap fillers

The IRT stations that had gap fillers added were:

  • South Ferry (outer loop)
  • Brooklyn Bridge (uptown and downtown express platforms) - these were inactivated when the station was extended northward. These gap fillers are still in place and can be seen just south of the current platforms.
  • 14th Street-Union Square (downtown platform ) only. There is evidence that there may have been gap fillers on the uptown express platform.
  • 42nd Street Shuttle - Times Square (tracks 1 and 3)