Rail Station Capacity Calculator

Hourly capacity and peak load are both calculated directly from train frequency, cars per train, and capacity per car -- how many riders the trains you actually specified can carry per hour. Dwell time instead feeds a separate estimate of the maximum train frequency the platform could theoretically sustain given loading and clearance time, which is a constraint check rather than an input to the throughput figures themselves.

Minimum platform length is calculated from cars per train alone, multiplying the number of cars by a standard 75-foot car length -- it does not depend on train frequency, capacity per car, or dwell time. A platform has to be long enough to accommodate the full physical length of the longest train stopping there, independent of how many riders that train is expected to carry.

The peak load estimate applies a flat 80% factor to hourly capacity to approximate typical peak-hour ridership rather than every seat and standee space being simultaneously filled to 100% of rated capacity, which real transit systems rarely sustain even during the busiest hour. It is a simplified planning estimate, not a measured or modeled ridership forecast for any specific line.

Yes -- cars per train is the one input that moves both figures together, since more cars means both more total passenger capacity per train (raising hourly capacity) and a physically longer train that the platform must accommodate (raising minimum platform length). Increasing train frequency or capacity per car instead, without changing cars per train, raises hourly capacity but leaves the platform length requirement unchanged.