How do we call the reaction we are to get when we go beyond the line in a train station and the train is ...?

Question

Certain precautions are observed in train stations. One obvious precautionary is the one wherein we are not allowed to cross the line along the side of the tracks especially when the train is fast approaching. This is because if we go beyond the line, we will be attracted to the force the train is exerting thus pushes us towards the train. What term is used again is cases like this? I think there is a particular name for it... please?

Answer 1

You are speaking of a vacuum, but getting "sucked under" a train is a myth.  It just doesn't happen.  

Trains compress the air they are moving through and this is especially evident in tunnels and underground railways, where the train is actually acting like the plunger in a bicycle tire pump, only on a larger scale.  If anything, the air would knock you backwards.  But that doesn't happen either.

What does happen, however, is if near a large body under way, such as a train, this can create spatial disorientation in the mind's perception which often leads to "vertigo," or dizziness.  People can loose their balance and tumble forward due to the dizziness.  If held back of the safety line and if the vertigo develops you'll not be harmed unless you fall and strike your head.

So the line is actually a safety device both in preventing vertigo and showing the necessary safety margin.

Another railroad myth dispelled...

Answer 2

Vacuum, It's the force like wind that pulls you toward the moving a train

Answer 3

There is an aerodynamic affect caused by a train passing, but I would agree that it is not a vacuum as such.

What tends to happen to the air directly in front of a train is similar to what happens to the water directly in front of a boat. In order for the train to move through the air it has to displace it by forcing it out of the way. Therefore you get a sort of "bow-wave" of air directly in front of the train that would, if anything, knock you backwards slightly. However, behind this is a low pressure area caused by air rushing back into the hole that the train has made that could suck you back in again towards the train.

The main reason for the safety lines is not to protect you against the areodynamics caused by a passing train. As has already been said, it is almost impossible for a train to suck or blow a person off the platform. However, it keeps you safe from anything that may have come loose on the train and be hanging over the side. It also safeguards the driver's peace of mind by showing that you are not about to do something rash. There's nothing worse than tanking up to a station at 80mph and seeing a person standing right on the edge of the platform, as all manner of things go through your mind about what may or may not happen.

Answer 4

When a train is travelling at high speed it causes a drop in air pressure around it which means that anyone standing close by is in danger of being sucked into the slipstream.

This is why there are warning notices at trackside, on platforms, etc. In the UK there are yellow lines on the platform where high speed trains regularly pass through and for safety passengers are warned not to stand beyond them.

It's always advisable to stand well back from the edge of the platform if a train is passing through. Only approach a train if it has stopped and you intend to board it.

Answer 5

i agree with the first answer given .. its a vacuum ..  vacuum is a space within a space ..