Insights from pedestrian tracking data for railway safety

Abstract

Railway platforms in Switzerland consist of a safety zone designed for the movement of the passengers and the danger zone adjacent to the platform edge, where a risk due to train movement persists. As no physical barrier exists between them, the platform design must ensure that the use of the danger zone is limited when a train movement is possible.
To observe the use of the danger zone, several platforms are equipped with sensors, which anonymously measure pedestrian trajectories. Now, data from several locations across Switzerland and up to several years is available, which we used to examine the influence of platform design, pedestrian demand, and train presence.
Our findings show correlations between the use of the danger zone and different influences, such as the passenger demand and the platform width. The data show that the use of the danger zone is considerably higher for a width of the safety zone lower than about 1.0 m. We also found evidence, that the walking and waiting behaviour can explain at least parts of the remaining differences visible between different measurement areas. These results help to further develop existing guidelines, which help to identify and mitigate safety critical situations in the future.