#every platform zero ever

currently at: 8/9 UK plat 0s
currently at: 8/10 European plat 0s

i love trains for a lot of reasons, but one of them is that it is a human-serving system. like time zones, there is a rigid and predictable structure to it that is (hopefully) smart in design, but sometimes rules are broken and where they are it is usually so that people can actually use said system even if it does sacrifice uniformity. these anomalies in any system are really cool to me, and platform zeros are one of them

platform zeros usually happen when a new platform is built next to platform one, in the opposite direction to existing platforms. it's often difficult to just renumber all the platforms because it's not just a matter of replacing signage, but also the computer systems that have to deal with signalling, platform allocation, and passenger information. railways are complex systems and changes can have unexpected effects, so simply adding a zero is often more convenient.

i would like to at least visit every platform zero in the UK, as we have the bulk of them. however, i specifically want to one up Geoff Marshall and Matt Parker. rather than needed to simply be on the platform, i need to arrive or depart on a train at that platform (which is going to make HYM very difficult). this will be where i document that! i'm doing them incrementally, but if i have the time and money at some point, i'll do them in as short of a time as i can!

Rainham (RAI) and Gravesend (GRV)

30/05/23

these two stations were quite local at the time, and on a weird and quite long detour from my then usual journey towards London i can hit both of them. so i did!

the platform zero at RAI serves as one terminus of the Thameslink RAI-LUT services with 2tph off-peak, while the platform zero at GRV serves an Southeastern stopping service towards CST via WWA and CHX via SID at 2tph each off-peak.

Redhill (RDH)

08/08/23

while not a usual journey, it is easy to do when i'm already in london, by taking a train to East Croyden, and getting on a TL service to Horsham.

the platform zero at RDH serves the Great Western Railway RDG-GTW line, with 1tph off-peak. i got the service towards Gatwick, being run by a BR class 165.

London King's Cross (KGX) and Leeds (LDS)

13/09/23

with an anytime single between the south east and Leeds paid for by someone else, i can take any train, including the 0703 KGX to LDS from platform zero. i also managed to get a 1st class upgrade for £8! this platform at KGX serves intercity services on the East Coast Mainline, primarily from LNER, but also Lumo, Grand Central, and Hull Trains.

once in Leeds, i took a Northern train to Burley Park (BUY) to take a train back from BUY to LDS, arriving at platform zero (b). the platform zero at LDS serves a variety of services through the West Junction.

Doncaster (DON)

07/10/23

i got an LNER 225 from LDS to DON, and after a 30 min delay due to a power fault on our train we arrived at DON missing my connection. after waiting around for an hour, i was able to get a train to HUL from the platform zero.

the platform zero at DON serves Northern services to SCU and HUL via KKS.

Stockport (STP)

17/04/24

i've attempted stockport a number of times over the last 6 months, but due to its inconsistent calling pattern i've not been able to get a train to or from the platform zero. generally, only the first three services to platform zero actually call there (with regular but sometime unpredictable exceptions).

i've never been in Manchester early enough to actually get these trains. on occasion more of the scheduled services will call on the correct platform, but i can't see any specific pattern over the period i collected data on this (about two weeks).

having come back from my first West Yorkshire rail speedrun attempt, i decided i need to attempt SPT soon, and found that right now TPE was running a VAR timetable service from York to Manchester (1P06 0237 TPE YRK -> MIA) and decided to buy a ticket.

arriving in MAN i was able to get the 0633 NT service to BUX, and alight at SPT on platform zero.

now, a full service seems to call at the platform on Wednesdays and Thursdays (late April '24). i made a web scraper that helped me with this platform.

the platform zero at SPT serves EMR and Northern services to SHF and BUX via DVN

Cardiff Central (CDF)

17/7/24

Cardiff is a difficult one, because it's consistently out the way of me. however, with a lot of ticket splitting (8 tickets in total) i set off to VIC on an SE service, changed to PAD (making sure to go a convoluted route so i get to use the purple trains) and get a GWR service to GCR. here, i planned to change to a XC service the rest of the way to CDF, but typical of XC, it was cancelled. thankfully a kind GWR guard let me use my XC ticket on their service, and i made it to CDF. from there, i got a TfW service to PYE from the platform.

the platform zero at CDF serves early morning XC services and TfW (AW) services to EBB.

next stop: Edinburgh Haymarket (HYM)

idk how i'm going to approach this one.

where are the others?

in the UK there are a couple more stations with in use platform zeros which i hope to visit over the next year (even if it is setdown only).

i've already been to:

and am yet to go to:

there was some talk that Preston's royal mail platform might be converted into a platform zero, but this seemed to based on increased service because of HS2 phase 2, so idk if this will happen (and also i have not seen any official information in the first place, this is not a source please don't cite this)

while i aim to complete every station 'properly', this might not be possible with Edinburgh Haymarket (HYM) as there are no regular passenger services from this platform. from my understanding, it is primarily used as a terminating platform during disruption in Edinburgh (as well as non-passenger movements). this makes it quite difficult to achieve so i may not be able to visit this one 'properly'.

in Europe there is also just one more station, Aarau in Switzerland. you can find the timetable here via SBB CFF FFS. I intend to do this at some point.

there are also a couple more in the rest of the world, Lidcombe in Australia as well as Ayase, Haruda, Hasioka, and Kyōto in Japan. travelling outside of Europe is expensive and involves airport security and visas so i don't have plans to see any of these, but i would like to one day.

all the videos on this page are quite compressed, they are static assets and are not streamed.

if you have any information, updates, comments, or corrections to this page, please do email me at [email protected].