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At Nijmegen central station in the Netherlands , track 1 is preceded by 35, even though the station only has a handful of tracks. I’m not making that up. https

At Nijmegen central station in the Netherlands , track 1 is preceded by 35, even though the station only has a handful of tracks. I’m not making that up. https://indebuurt.nl/nijmegen/genieten-van/mysteries/nijmeegse-mysteries-spoor-35-op-station-nijmegen~8876/ https://indebuurt.nl/nijmegen/genieten-van/mysteries/nijmeeg...

dEnigma 4y ago
Linz central station in Austria also has platforms/tracks 21 and 22 before 1, and then goes up to 8 from there, I think
Fnoord 4y ago
In Sittard, The Netherlands track 1 was preceeded by track 20 (kopspoor with buffer stop). Track 20 being the train to Kerkrade and the other tracks being for other trains (mainly but not solely ICs). One such (obvious) exception is OK with me. Its annoying when every train station has random track numbers though.
- Someone 4y ago
  It’s not random. The numbers aren’t only used for passengers, but also for train personnel, and because of that not only cover the train station, but also tracks in the neighborhood. Tracks are numbered logically or at least start out that way, but in some stations, many tracks don’t border a passenger platform (which freight trains don’t need) If there’s a shunting yard nearby, there can be many such tracks. Looking at http://www.sporenplan.nl/html_de/sporenplan/ns/ns_65/nm.html http://www.sporenplan.nl/html_de/sporenplan/ns/ns_65/nm.html, that may be the case for Nijmegen. I don’t know what rules they use for renumbering tracks, but they must weigh the cost of redocumenting things and retraining personnel (likely the trickier part. Some of them may have known the track numbers for decades, so reassigning number to make them easier to learn can be risky. From a safety viewpoint, moving from 1,2,3… to A,B,C… may be a better option) against the training of future employees.
  - Tijdreiziger 4y ago
    Interestingly, tracks that were turned over from ProRail to HTM (for RandstadRail operations) were never renumbered. This means that Zoetermeer station has 2 tracks numbered 3 and 4, and Laan v. NOI station has 4 tracks numbered 3-6.

dEnigma 4y ago

Linz central station in Austria also has platforms/tracks 21 and 22 before 1, and then goes up to 8 from there, I think

Fnoord 4y ago

In Sittard, The Netherlands track 1 was preceeded by track 20 (kopspoor with buffer stop). Track 20 being the train to Kerkrade and the other tracks being for other trains (mainly but not solely ICs). One such (obvious) exception is OK with me. Its annoying when every train station has random track numbers though.

Someone 4y ago
It’s not random. The numbers aren’t only used for passengers, but also for train personnel, and because of that not only cover the train station, but also tracks in the neighborhood. Tracks are numbered logically or at least start out that way, but in some stations, many tracks don’t border a passenger platform (which freight trains don’t need) If there’s a shunting yard nearby, there can be many such tracks. Looking at http://www.sporenplan.nl/html_de/sporenplan/ns/ns_65/nm.html http://www.sporenplan.nl/html_de/sporenplan/ns/ns_65/nm.html, that may be the case for Nijmegen. I don’t know what rules they use for renumbering tracks, but they must weigh the cost of redocumenting things and retraining personnel (likely the trickier part. Some of them may have known the track numbers for decades, so reassigning number to make them easier to learn can be risky. From a safety viewpoint, moving from 1,2,3… to A,B,C… may be a better option) against the training of future employees.
- Tijdreiziger 4y ago
  Interestingly, tracks that were turned over from ProRail to HTM (for RandstadRail operations) were never renumbered. This means that Zoetermeer station has 2 tracks numbered 3 and 4, and Laan v. NOI station has 4 tracks numbered 3-6.