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30-608: Downtown Largo station (also known as Largo ) is an island-platformed Washington Metro station in Lake Arbor , Prince George's County, Maryland , United States , with a Largo postal address. The station opened on December 18, 2004, as Largo Town Center and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). It is the eastern terminus of the Blue and Silver Lines, and serves

60-401: A bridge or underpass. If an island platform is not wide enough to cope with passenger numbers, typically as they increase, overcrowding can risk people being pushed onto the tracks. In some cases entry to the station is restricted at busier times to reduce risk. Examples of stations where a narrow island platform has caused safety issues include Clapham Common and Angel (rebuilt in 1992) on

90-415: A carriage of a packed rush-hour train began to fill with smoke, with passengers smashing windows to escape. The subsequent Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) investigation noted that passengers became panicked by a combination of factors, including smoke and a burning smell, closed train doors, no onboard announcement and "perceived inaction" by staff. The RAIB also noted that the narrow platforms at

120-587: A new side platform opening in December 2022. Some stations of the Glasgow Subway have one island platform and one side platform ( Hillhead , Buchanan Street , and Ibrox ). In Wellington , New Zealand, unused sides can be found at two stations on the Hutt Valley Line : Waterloo and Petone . Waterloo's island platform was reconfigured to be the down side platform when the station was extensively rebuilt in

150-485: A proposed terminus at Bowie . In October 1996, the proposed routing for the extension of the Blue Line to Largo received a favorable environmental impact statement thus allowing for the project to move forward. The plan represented the first expansion to the original 103-mile (166 km) Metro network and would include both the then named Summerfield and Largo stations. The station gained approval from Congress as part of

180-607: Is on the Northern line , between Clapham North and Clapham South stations, and is in Travelcard Zone 2 . The station is at the eastern tip of Clapham Common and was opened on 3 June 1900 as the new southern terminus of the City and South London Railway , which was extended from Stockwell . It remained the terminus until the Morden extension was opened on 13 September 1926. In May 2023,

210-669: Is relatively common when the railway line is in a cutting or raised on an embankment , as this makes it easier to provide access to the platform without walking across the tracks. Island platforms are necessary for any station with many through platforms. There are also advantages to building small two-track stations with a single island platform instead of two side platforms. Island platforms allow facilities such as shops, toilets and waiting rooms to be shared between both tracks rather than being duplicated or present only on one side. An island platform makes it easier for disabled travellers to change services between tracks or access facilities. If

240-724: The Capital Line and Metro Line used island platforms until NAIT/Blatchford Market station opened in 2024, the only station with side platforms as of 2024. The Valley Line Southeast uses low-floor LRT technology, but uses island platforms on only one of the 12 stops, Mill Woods . Almost all of the elevated stations in Singapore 's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system use island platforms. The exceptions are Dover MRT station and Canberra MRT station , which use side platforms as they are built on an existing rail line, also known as an infill station . The same follows for underground stations, with

270-855: The IRT Seventh Avenue Line and 34th Street – Penn Station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway , uses two side platforms for local services with an island in between for express services. The purpose of this atypical design was to reduce unnecessary passenger congestion at a station with a high volume of passengers. Since the IRT Seventh Avenue Line and IND Eighth Avenue Line have adjacent express stations at 42nd Street, passengers can make their transfers from local to express trains there, leaving more space available for passengers utilizing intercity rail at Pennsylvania Station . The Willets Point Boulevard station

300-629: The London Underground , Union (rebuilt in 2014) on the Toronto subway , and Umeda on the Osaka Municipal Subway . An island platform requires the tracks to diverge around the centre platform, and extra width is required along the right-of-way on each approach to the station, especially on high-speed lines. Track centres vary for rail systems throughout the world but are normally 3 to 5 metres (9 ft 10 in to 16 ft 5 in). If

330-730: The Newport PATH station has the same configuration as Bowling Green—one side platform and one island platform. On the Tokyo Metro , the Ginza Line has a side platform and an island platform at Nihombashi . Likewise, the Namba and Minami-morimachi stations on the Osaka Metro have similar configurations. On JR East, the Yokosuka Line platforms at Musashi-Kosugi feature a similar setup following

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360-829: The Werribee Line , Ardeer , Caroline Springs on the Ballaarat Line , Glen Iris , Holmesglen , Jordanville and Syndal on the Glen Waverley Line , and Watsonia and Heidelberg on the Hurstbridge line . In Toronto , 29 subway stations use island platforms (a few in the newer stations on the Bloor–Danforth line , a few on the Yonge–University line and all of the Sheppard line ). In Edmonton , all 18 LRT stations on

390-630: The exception being Braddell MRT station , Bishan MRT station , and a few stations on the Downtown line ( Stevens , Downtown , Telok Ayer , Chinatown and MacPherson ) and the Thomson-East Coast line ( Napier , Maxwell , Shenton Way and Marina Bay ) In southern New Jersey and Philadelphia , PATCO uses island platforms in all of its 13 stations, to facilitate one-person train operation . The NYC Subway's Second Avenue Subway features island platforms at all stations. Many other stations in

420-601: The extension in February 2000 with the federal government contributing $ 259 million towards its construction. Construction began in 2001, and the station opened as Largo Town Center on December 18, 2004. Its opening coincided with the completion of 3.2 miles (5.1 km) of rail east of the Addison Road station and the opening of the Morgan Boulevard station. The final cost of building it, its sister station and rail extension

450-428: The island platform is 6 metres (19 ft 8 in) wide, the tracks must slew out by the same distance. While this requirement is not a problem on a new line under construction, it makes building a new station on an existing line impossible without altering the tracks. A single island platform also makes it quite difficult to have through tracks (used by trains that do not stop at that station), which are usually between

480-520: The late 1980s, with the unused side now facing onto a bus bay. Petone's island platform served the up main line and the suburban loop line until the suburban loop was lifted in the early 1990s. The unused platform now faces onto the station's park-and-ride carpark. Clapham Common tube station Clapham Common is a London Underground station in Clapham within the London Borough of Lambeth . It

510-580: The line to a larger gauge, by moving the track away from the platform to allow the wider bodied continental rolling stock to pass freely while leaving the platform area untouched. Island platforms are a very normal sight on Indian railway stations. Almost all railway stations in India consist of island platforms. In Sydney , on the Eastern Suburbs Railway and the Epping Chatswood Railway ,

540-520: The local tracks (where the island would be). A common configuration in busy locations on high speed lines is a pair of island platforms, with slower trains diverging from the main line (or using a separate level on the railway's right-of-way ) so that the main line tracks remain straight. High-speed trains can therefore pass straight through the station, while slow trains pass around the platforms (such as at Kent House in London ). This arrangement also allows

570-460: The name of the station be changed to Downtown Largo after conducting a brief public opinion survey, despite the survey saying participants didn't like the term "Downtown". The new name became effective on September 11, 2022. Island-platform The historical use of island platforms depends greatly upon the location. In the United Kingdom the use of island platforms on twin-track routes

600-518: The platforms due to the high cost of doing so – despite safety concerns raised by the RAIB. Clapham Common is one of eight London Underground stations that have a deep-level air-raid shelter underneath them. Both entrances to the shelter are north of the station on Clapham High Street. Train frequencies vary throughout the day, but generally operate every 2–6 minutes between 06:09 and 00:21 in both directions. A large number of London Buses routes serve

630-486: The station informing and encouraging commuters to adopt veganism for the month. The station has two entrances, one at the west via a domed building dating from the 1920s, and one at the east via a modern curved-steel and glass pavilion. Clapham Common and Clapham North are the only stations left on the network that are physically underground with narrow island platforms , around 3.7 metres (12 ft) wide. In September 2024, TfL indicated that they had no plans to widen

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660-483: The station meant the incident “had the potential to have more serious consequences”. For 2 weeks in September 2016, all of the adverts used in the station were replaced by photos of cats. This was an initiative paid for on crowdfunding site Kickstarter and organized by an organisation called The Citizens Advertising Takeover Service (C.A.T.S) . In January 2017, as part of the initiative Veganuary , PETA took over

690-636: The station to serve as a point where slow trains can be passed by faster trains. A variation at some stations is to have the slow and fast pairs of tracks each served by island platforms (as is common on the New York City Subway ; the Broad Street Line of Philadelphia ; and the Chicago Transit Authority 's Red and Purple lines). A rarer layout, present at Mets-Willets Point on the IRT Flushing Line , 34th Street – Penn Station on

720-494: The system have the same layout. Sometimes when the track on one side of the platform is unused by passenger trains, that side may be fenced off. Examples include Hurlstone Park , Lewisham, Sydney and Yeronga, Brisbane . In New York City's subway system , unused sides are located at Bowling Green as well as every express station without express service, such as Pelham Parkway on the IRT Dyre Avenue line. In Jersey City,

750-422: The top level. This station is also the only terminus that has two lines terminating at it. In 1980, Herbert Harris and other local legislators introduced legislation to study the feasibility of constructing an additional 47 miles (76 km) to the original 103-mile (166 km) network. Included in this request was a previously considered 13-mile (21 km) extension of the Blue Line through Largo en route to

780-637: The town of Largo and the former The Boulevard at the Capital Centre . It is the first and so far only station in Prince George's County outside the Capital Beltway , and is located about 1 mile (1.6 km) from Northwest Stadium , the home of the Washington Commanders . It is also a major commuter station, with two parking garages, containing a total of 2,200 spaces, connected by a bridge at

810-434: The tracks are above or below the entrance level, the station needs only one staircase and (if disabled accessibility is necessary) one elevator or ramp to allow access to the platforms. If the tracks are at the same level as the entrance, this instead creates a disadvantage; a side platform arrangement allows one platform to be adjacent to the entrance, whereas an island platform arrangement requires both tracks to be accessed by

840-573: The twin tunnels are widely spaced and the tracks can remain at a constant track centres while still leaving room for the island platforms. A slight disadvantage is that crossovers have to be rather long. Examples in Melbourne include West Footscray , Middle Footscray , Albion and Tottenham on the Sunbury line , Kananook on the Frankston Line , Aircraft , Williams Landing and Hoppers Crossing on

870-661: Was $ 456 million. In December 2012, the station was one of five added to the route of the Silver Line , which was originally supposed to end at the Stadium–Armory station but was extended into Prince George's County, Maryland to Largo due to safety concerns about a pocket track just past Stadium–Armory. Therefore, the station is also the eastern terminus of the Silver Line, which began service on July 26, 2014. On January 13, 2022, WMATA's Safety and Operations Committee recommended

900-541: Was renovated to accommodate the high volume of passengers coming to the 1939 World's Fair . Many of the stations on the Great Central Railway in England (now almost entirely closed) were constructed in this form. This was because the line was planned to connect to a Channel Tunnel . If this happened, the lines would need to be compatible with continental loading gauge , and this would mean it would be easy to change

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