Editing Railway platform (section)

==Identification==
{{Routemap
| title = Designated platforms or tracks
| legend = track
| collapsible = no
| map =
vCONTgfaq!~MASKa\-STRq!~PLT-\-STRq!~PLT-\-STRq!~PLT-\vCONTgfeq!~MASKa\num1r
vCONTgfaq!~MASKa\-STRq\-STRq\-STRq\vCONTgfeq!~MASKa\num2r
vCONTfgaq!~MASKa\-STRq!~PLT-\-STRq!~PLT-\-STRq!~PLT-\vCONTfgeq!~MASKa\num3r
vCONTfgaq!~MASKa\-STRq\-STRq\-STRq\vCONTfgeq!~MASKa\num4r
PLT-\PLT-\PLT-\
| bottom = <div style="width:18em;text-align:center">In US usage, this station would be described as having three platforms and four tracks (Tracks 1—4). In other English-speaking countries, it would be described as having four platforms (Platforms 1—4).</div>
}}
Most stations have their platforms numbered consecutively from 1; a few stations, including {{stnlnk|Cardiff Central}}, {{stnlnk|Haymarket}}, [[London King's Cross railway station|King's Cross]], {{stnlnk|Stockport}}, and {{stnlnk|Gravesend}} (in the UK); and [[Lidcombe railway station|Lidcombe, Sydney]] (Australia), start from 0, generally because a new platform has been added next to Platform 1. At {{stnlnk|Bristol Temple Meads}} platforms 3 through to 12 are split along their length, with odd numbered platforms facing north and east and even numbers facing south and west, with a small signal halfway along the platform. Some, such as {{stnlnk|London Waterloo East}}, use letters instead of numbers (this is to distinguish the platforms from numbered ones in the adjoining [[London Waterloo station|Waterloo main-line station]]; some, such as [[Paris-Gare de Lyon]], use letters for one group of platforms but numbers for the other.

The actual meaning of the word platform depends on country and language. In some countries such as the United States, the word platform refers to the physical structure, while the place where a train can arrive is referred to as a "track" (e.g. "The train is arriving on Track 5"). In other countries, such as the UK, Ireland and most Commonwealth countries, platform refers specifically to the place where the train stops, which means that in such a case [[island platform]]s are allocated two separate numbers, one for each side. Some countries are in the process of switching from platform to track numbers, i.e. the Czech Republic and Poland. In locations where track numbers are used, an island platform would be described as one platform with two tracks. Many stations also have numbered tracks which are used only for through traffic and do not have physical platform access.