Let’s play a game: how can we improve the pedestrian traffic on the central underground station in Stuttgart.
The setup: the station has two major lines: the NE <-> SW and the NW<->SE. The lines are double, of course, with three elevated platforms in between them. There is a passageway above the lines connecting the platforms.
The problem: This layout demands you to use the above passageway way too often. if you are coming, for example, from the SW and want to travel to the SE, you have to use the passageway above the lines from one extreme point to the other. The passageway is annoying, especially if you have to use it daily. You can see your train on the other line, but you have to travel to another level and then come back.
The question: What would be the most effective way to connect the trains so that people have to walk the least distance possible? Could the station be designed in a way to reduce the use, or completely avoid the passageway? So that you can step out on a platform and from there travel in any direction.
What are your solutions?
I have a possible one: If you move two train lines on the extremes of the platforms, you can use the trains in the middle as bridges. This way people can travel from platform 1 to 2 without using the elevated passageway.
Miha Hillenkamp 