# Train travel - "track" vs "platform" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 25, 2022, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/train-travel-track-vs-platform/958358 "2022-01-25T13:03:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2022, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/train-travel-track-vs-platform/958358/21 "2022-01-25T19:41:24Z")
As I recall, the Chattanooga Choo-Choo used to leave from Track 29. At Amsterdam Centraal, they indicate separate areas of the same track/platform as 3a/3b or whatever, because they’re very long and they use them for different trains (I think, but I’m not sure, that as it’s a terminus, they may run trains in opposite directions from the same platform). ---
**Author:** ![QMatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/aeb1de/32.png) [@QMatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QMatic)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2022, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/train-travel-track-vs-platform/958358/22 "2022-01-25T23:35:15Z")
It is common in the UK for either sides of a single physical platform to be given separate numbers. Sometimes you will get letters added, e.g. platform 9a and 9b, but that is usually where either an extra platform has been squeezed in to an existing layout, or where some shorter trains only use half a platform so passengers need to be told which end to head for. I have never heard of track numbers being used in UK stations. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2022, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/train-travel-track-vs-platform/958358/23 "2022-01-26T07:33:41Z")
Germany and the Netherlands may use the equivalent of “track”, but in France it seems both “quai” and “voie” are used, for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2022, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/train-travel-track-vs-platform/958358/24 "2022-01-26T09:58:46Z")
I agree that in the French-speaking countries I frequent, I see “quai” and “voie” used more or less interchangeably in this context. ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2022, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/train-travel-track-vs-platform/958358/25 "2022-01-26T11:19:00Z")
The train system in South Africa seems to follow British practice - we talk about “platforms” rather than “tracks”, but a single physical platform will have two platform numbers if it serves two tracks. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2022, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/train-travel-track-vs-platform/958358/26 "2022-01-26T19:36:43Z")
> [@QMatic](#): > > It is common in the UK for either sides of a single physical platform to be given separate numbers. > [@ctnguy](#): > > The train system in South Africa seems to follow British practice - we talk about “platforms” rather than “tracks”, but a single physical platform will have two platform numbers if it serves two tracks. Yep. So, in Cape Town Station, Platform 1 is by itself, then Platforms 2 and 3 share a physical structure, then Platforms 4 and 5, all with a pair of tracks in between. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/train-travel-track-vs-platform/958358/27 "2022-01-27T01:45:38Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Practically speaking, the track is the important designator. You’re waiting for the correct train, which means you’re waiting for that train to arrive at the correct track. Since the platform may serve two tracks, identifying the platform may not be sufficiently unique. In the UK that’s solved by having the left side be platform one, and the right side platform two. In the US found “track one” and so on pretty confusing because I didn’t know which side the train I needed would be arriving. ---
**Author:** ![QMatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/aeb1de/32.png) [@QMatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QMatic)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/train-travel-track-vs-platform/958358/28 "2022-01-27T03:37:49Z")
I was wondering whether the difference in UK and US terminology might be down historical differences in train stations. In the US, at least in movies, it was not uncommon for stations outside of major cities to have no platform and passengers had to climb steps to board the train. In the UK all stations have always had raised platforms so you can step straight onto the train. It would make sense to use “track” in a system where having a platform is not a given. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/train-travel-track-vs-platform/958358/29 "2022-01-27T04:10:58Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Here’s a picture from [Boston North Station](https://history.amtrak.com/archives/i-downeaster-i-at-boston-north-station-2016), which neatly avoids the issue by just putting a number on the sign, no verbiage. Yeah, that tracks with my recollection. The vast majority of train trips I’ve taken have involved North station and I don’t recall the signage noting track _or_ platform, just numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/train-travel-track-vs-platform/958358/30 "2022-01-27T04:55:13Z")
Union station In Toronto used to announce “tracks” but now consistently uses “platforms”. Here’s a discussion from Urban Toronto: > **[Union Station platform renumbering and signage](https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/union-station-platform-renumbering-and-signage.7592/)** > > Union Station more user-friendly > By BRIAN GRAY, SUN MEDIA > Last Updated: 26th September 2008, 2:44am > > All signs point to change at Union Station. > > GO commuters are going to see the first in a series of upgrades to the busiest transit hub in Canada... ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/train-travel-track-vs-platform/958358/31 "2022-01-27T07:50:45Z")
> [@ctnguy](#): > > The train system in South Africa seems to follow British practice - we talk about “platforms” rather than “tracks”, but a single physical platform will have two platform numbers if it serves two tracks. That is the nomenclature which applies in Australia. Platforms have numbers, usually paired, tracks do not. (at least as far as the travelling public are concerned) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/train-travel-track-vs-platform/958358/32 "2022-01-27T08:18:51Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Union station In Toronto used to announce “tracks” but now consistently uses “platforms”. Well, that’s a change. I’d take the train from Toronto to Montreal, leaving from, say Track 3, come up from the underground to the platform, where I was greeted on the island platform by signs: Track 2 was on my left, and Track 3 was on my right. So, I got on the train to my right. It was obvious. Wonder what prompted that change? ---
**Author:** ![Remember\_me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/82dd89/32.png) [@Remember\_me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Remember_me)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/train-travel-track-vs-platform/958358/33 "2022-01-27T10:52:09Z")
It is not really a change. It is just another word for the same thing, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/train-travel-track-vs-platform/958358/34 "2022-01-27T11:30:29Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Wonder what prompted that change? I wonder whether it had something to do with the old Union Station Bus Terminal (USBT)? Its platforms were numbered in the 40s, I think 41 to 47. Listings with bus platforms would appear in the departures display in between listings with train platforms. I’m not sure how listings for the new USBT, open since a year ago or so, are handled. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/train-travel-track-vs-platform/958358/35 "2022-01-27T15:00:57Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Yeah, that tracks with my recollection. Or does it platform with your recollection? Thank you, I’ll be here all week. Tip your servers. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/train-travel-track-vs-platform/958358/36 "2022-01-27T16:51:32Z")
I did debate adding “pun intended” but that seems gauche. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/train-travel-track-vs-platform/958358.md?page=1)