A railway platform is an area alongside a railway track providing convenient access to trains. Almost all stations have some form of platform, with larger stations having multiple platforms.
The world 's longest station platform is at Gorakhpur Junction in India at 1,355.40 metres (4,446.9 ft). The Appalachian Trail station in the United States, at the other extreme, has a platform which is only long enough for a single bench.Among some United States train conductors the word "platform" has entered usage as a verb meaning "to berth at a station ", as in the announcement: "The last two cars of this train will not platform at East Rockaway".
Height relative to trains
The most basic form of platform consists of an area at the same level as the track, usually resulting in a fairly large height difference between the platform and the train floor. This would often not be considered a true platform. The more traditional platform is elevated relative to the track but often lower than the train floor, although ideally they should be at the same level. Occasionally the platform is higher than the train floor, where a train with a low floor serves a station built for trains with a high floor, for example at the Dutch stations of the DB Regionalbahn Westfalen ( see Enschede). On the London Underground some stations are served by both District line and Piccadilly line trains, and the Piccadilly trains have lower floors.
A tram stop is often in the middle of the street ; usually it has as a platform a refuge area of a similar height to that of the sidewalk, e.g.
