IF articles

Summary - This work, carried out within the CARBODIN EU-funded project, aims to study the impacts of a new train boarding device conceived as an innovative solution that improves train accessibility for passengers encountering significant boarding and alighting maneuvers due to their reduced mobility. Experiments were carried out at the MASATS facility, involving a heterogeneous sample of Persons with Reduced Mobility (PRM). Different scenarios were tested to reproduce various conditions potentially relevant for real cases, such as platform height, the distance between the platform and the doorsill, the residual gap between the gap filler and the platform, and other complex boarding and alighting (B&A) conditions. The above was possible thanks to the prototype equipped with three platform-to-train interface variants for simulating different platform designs. The data collected from the testing activity allowed for a detailed statistical study of PRM’s boarding and alighting times per train door in different disability types for a particular number of alighting and boarding passengers.