Railway operators and infrastructure companies strive to optimise the flow of passengers on and off vehicles whilst aiming to minimise accidents at the platform–train interface (PTI). An ideal solution (already available in some situations) would be step-free access to aid efficient boarding for everyday passengers and those with additional needs or reduced mobility. Out of many solutions existing today, a ‘kneeling vehicle’ seems a possible solution due to the opportunity to minimise the step and gap distances. In this study, the viability of an assumed kneeling mechanism retro-fitted to a contemporary suspension architecture is assessed by evaluating the possible improvement in the step/gap distances based on a detailed model of suspension movement. It is shown that for many different infrastructure scenarios that significant improvements in the PTI are shown for a modest and achievable kneeling action. This study also addresses fundamental operational concerns of a kneeling vehicle by assessing gauging (with respect to infrastructure and adjacent vehicles) and pantograph interaction.

中文翻译：

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跪着的火车为乘客上下车改善站台-火车接口的可行性

铁路运营商和基础设施公司努力优化上下车的乘客流量，同时力求最大程度地减少平台-火车接口（PTI）上的事故。理想的解决方案（在某些情况下已经可用）将是无台阶的，以帮助日常乘客以及有其他需求或行动不便的乘客高效登机。在当今存在的许多解决方案中，由于有机会将步距和间隙距离最小化，因此“跪车”似乎是一种可能的解决方案。在这项研究中，通过基于详细的悬架运动模型评估步距/间隙距离的可能改进，来评估改装为现代悬架结构的假想跪式机构的可行性。结果表明，对于许多不同的基础结构场景，PTI的显着改进显示了适度且可实现的跪姿。这项研究还通过评估测量（相对于基础设施和相邻车辆）和受电弓相互作用来解决跪车的基本操作问题。