Editing Railway platform (section)

==Types of platform==
[[File:Oslo airport train station, Platform 0.jpg|thumb|left|Oslo airport train station, [[Platform 0]]]]
[[File:Platform types en.svg|thumb|right|This diagram illustrates different types of platform. Platform 1 is a "bay" platform, while platforms 2, 3 and 4 are "through" platforms. The platform accommodating 3 and 4 is an "island" platform]]
Platform types include the [[bay platform]], [[side platform]] (also called through platform), [[split platform]] and [[island platform]]. A bay platform is one at which the track terminates, i.e. a dead-end or [[rail siding|siding]]. Trains serving a bay platform must reverse in or out. A side platform is the more usual type, alongside tracks where the train arrives from one end and leaves towards the other. An island platform has through platforms on both sides; it may be indented on one or both ends, with bay platforms. To reach an island platform there may be a bridge, a [[Subway (underpass)|tunnel]], or a [[level crossing]].  A variant on the side platform is the [[spanish solution]] which has platforms on both sides of a single through track.

Modern station platforms can be constructed from a variety of materials such as [[Fiberglass|glass-reinforced polymer]], [[Precast concrete|pre-cast concrete]] or expanded [[Polystyrene|polystrene]], depending on the underlying substructure.