While travelling by train the other day I heard an announcement which explained that passengers in the back two or three coaches of the train would have move forward if they wanted to get off at the next stop as their coaches would not be ‘platformed’. I think this was the first time I’d heard this word.
Have you heard this usage before?
Can you think of an any other ways to express the same thing?
Platformed, huh?
Well, I don’t know if the phenomenon exists in the US, but I’d probably expect to hear something like “Only the first X cars will be able to get off at platform X.”
I’ve never heard it before. In London, and on the routes which travel into London, I always hear something along the lines of “Due to short platforms at [station name], the doors in [position of train] will not open” and “Passengers wishing to leave the train at [station name] should move down the train”.
Sounds strange, I’ve never come across such a concept in rusty old Central/Eastern Europe.
If I were to try to lexicalize the idea it would come out something like: “One the first X number of wagons will have access to the platform” (or “platform access”. Or “The last X number of wagons….” (or just name them: “Wagons number X, X and X will not have platform access.”
Yeah, this is railway-ese in various parts of Britain (maybe across the whole network), I’ve particularly heard it on the West Coast Main Line, CrossCountry Services and South West Trains.
Normally however, it seems to be used in the sense ‘to assign a platform to an entire train’. Commonly heard on approach to busy stations where late running of services can lead to trains sitting outside the station waiting to be ‘platformed’. Particularly common at Birmingham New Street, but not unheard of at Preston and Clapham Junction, for example.
I’ve only heard it over a train tannoy when on board, though. Never heard it at a station. Sometimes of course, a train waiting to be ‘platformed’ ends up being directed to the first available slot whether or not it was meant to go there – the dreaded ‘Platform Alteration’. Very common at Birmingham New Street, where passangers often end up having to lug bags back up the stairs and across to another platform at the last minute.
I’ve never heard “platformed” used that way in the US.
On Amtrak (the national railway system), when stopping at a minor station, there may be an announcement that only the doors in cars number such-and-such will be opened at the station. Sometimes this is because of a short platform; sometimes it’s just to save time. (In either case, they will have previously sorted anyone travelling to that station into the indicated cars.)
To use language in a creative way is a sport. To verb nouns like in this example is fun. Though till now I did not come across “geperroneerd” in my native language. In Dutch we have lots of double meanings. For instance “de rechter wordt linker” is “The right(side) becomes left” but also: “The judge becomes more tricky.” I use this as a warning for those who have to face court….
Speaking of Amtrak, an odd word that seems to be completely unique to their on-board announcements is “detrain”. This is their word for leaving the trian, whether permanently because it’s at your destination or temporarily because it’s a long stop and you want to get some fresh air.
I’ve heard “deplane” in various aviation-related contexts, but “detrain” nowhere but on Amtrak.
I wonder, how can time be saved by opening fewer doors?