New Platforms Needed at....
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VentureForth
Engineer
All stations that service Amfleets and Viewliners should have high level platforms. If they aren't, they need 'em.
Can Viewliner doors open automatically?
Can Viewliner doors open automatically?
I suspect the short answer is "many". Ironically, the Americans for Disability Act may cause platform renovations to be deferred because renovations -- and your platform sounds like it's so broken that "renovation" rather than "repair" might be needed -- would trigger ADA provisions for a high level platform, which costs real money. Either way, Amtrak won't pay for it. Talk to your city government, but it could get complicated by who owns the station, who would say "yes", who would take project liability, etc.
Ispolkom
Engineer
Cement? You got cement? Luxury. Minot has the same crumbling asphalt that I remember from my first trip on the Empire Builder in 1981. Mind you, after the 2011 flood passengers couldn't board the Empire Builder for months, supposedly because the platform was dangerous. In the end, the station reopened without them even cleaning the silt left by the flood off the asphalt.
They did pour new concrete right in front of the station, but that's usually the spot the sightseer-lounge stops at, so it isn't as though it helps anyone.
Not that it matters when the train doesn't even run...
Well no, not cement, it is some kind of cheap asphalt. I will edit my first post.
No, they swing inward just like the Superliners doors.
"Either way, Amtrak won't pay for it" is too simple an answer and is simply not correct in many cases.
The US DOT requirement is for level boarding platforms not high level platforms. Which in the east would be 48" ATR high level and in the Midwest and West, 15" ATR low level. The exception is where the 15" or 48" ATR platforms would interfere with freight traffic, which means most stations outside of the Amtrak owned or controlled routes, unless the station platform is on a side track.
Regardless of whether the platform would be "renovated", Amtrak has been required by Congress to make all stations ADA compliant by the end of 2015. To that end, Congress has been providing Amtrak with ADA compliance funding which has been used to replace platforms, upgrade restrooms, add wheelchair lifts, add curb cutouts and ramps at a number of stations. Despite that, there is no way Amtrak will meet the 2015 deadline. Not enough funding for starters, made worse by the budget cuts.
The real hurdle is the complex mix of ownership and responsibility for many of the stations. The platform may be owned by the freight railroad, the station by the town or a local business, and the parking lot by someone else. Getting everyone to agree to changes, station by station, is a tedious process. Or fixing the existing platform is tied up in local plans to renovate the current station or build a new station which has been in the talking & planning stage for years and years. Amtrak has produced reports and sent letters to Congress on their progress and status on station accessibility and ADA compliance for anyone who interested in the challenge that are available on their website Reports and Document page under PRIIA Submissions and Reports.
As for Winona, MN, the platform, station, and parking lot are owned by CP, but Amtrak is responsible for the structures, according to the table in the 2011 ADA compliance report. Perhaps there are plans to repair the platform and add a small 15" mini-high with a ramp as Winona gets more than 7,500 passengers a year, but those plans.could be way down to to do list. The good news in the bigger picture, between HSIPR & TIGER grants, ADA compliance funds, local & state station upgrade/new station projects, commuter railroad projects, many stations in the Amtrak system have been considerably improved in the past few years or will be within the next 4-5 years.
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