The Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness, Equipment, Use and Certification) Regulations 1981

Width of gangways

26.—(1) Subject to paragraph 11 of Schedule 2 and to paragraph (2), the following conditions shall be complied with in the case of every vehicle:—

(a) the width of every gangway shall be not less than—

(i) 305 millimetres up to a height of 765 millimetres above the level of the deck of the vehicle,

(ii) 355 millimetres at heights exceeding 765 millimetres but not exceeding 1.22 metres above the level of the deck of the vehicle, and

(iii) 455 millimetres at heights exceeding 1.22 metres above the level of the deck of the vehicle;

(b) a vertical line projected upwards from the centre line of any gangway at deck level shall, to the height prescribed in Regulation 27 as the height of that gangway, be laterally not less than 150 millimetres from any part of the vehicle other than the roof above the gangway;

(c) being a vehicle which has a seating capacity exceeding 12 passengers, no part of any gangway which is within 910 millimetres of an entrance or exit (other than an emergency exit) to which it provides access shall be less than 530 millimetres in width; and

(d) being a double-decked vehicle which has a seating capacity exceeding 12 passengers, one gangway in the vehicle which serves as a joint means of access—

(i) to both the upper and lower decks from any entrance, or

(ii) to any exit from both the upper and lower decks,

shall where it lies between an entrance or exit (other than an emergency exit) and a staircase, be, at every level, not less than 910 millimetres in width;

(e) where a part of a gangway which adjoins an entrance or exit is divided by a handrail, the width of that part of the gangway at any point on each side of the handrail shall not be less than 455 millimetres;

(f) where two seats (being either two seats each for one passenger only or two portions of a continuous seat, each of such portions being for one passenger only measured in accordance with condition (b) of Regulation 28(1)) are placed parallel to the longitudinal axis of a vehicle and face each other and the space between those seats is not required for the purpose of obtaining access from an entrance to any other seat or from any other seat to an exit (not being an emergency exit), that space shall not for the purposes of this Regulation and Regulation 27 be treated as forming part of the gangway;

(g) between every exit, not being either—

(i) an emergency exit provided in the roof of a vehicle, or

(ii) an exit provided in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 21(11) unless it be a primary or secondary emergency exit,

and a gangway there shall be a passage—

(A) of dimensions not less than those prescribed for a gangway in condition (a) of paragraph (1);

(B) so designed that a vertical line projected upwards from the centre line of the passage at floor level to a height of 760 millimetres from the level of the deck is laterally not less than 150 millimetres from any part of the vehicle (excluding any cowling or cover which projects not more than 230 millimetres from the bulkhead of the vehicle into the passage at floor level and not more than 230 millimetres above the deck level and the provision of which is required by the projection of part of the chassis or mechanism of the vehicle into the body);

(C) which has a clear height at every point along the centre line of the passage of 1.52 metres from the deck level:

Provided that—

(i) for the purposes of sub-paragraphs A and B of this paragraph a seat placed below or in front of an emergency exit, being such an exit provided on the upper deck of a double-decked vehicle or in the roof of a vehicle or which is a secondary emergency exit within the meaning of Regulation 21 shall be deemed to form part of such a passage, and

(ii) sub-paragraph C of this paragraph shall not apply in the case of a passage leading to an emergency exit, being such an exit provided on the upper deck of a double-decked vehicle or in the roof of a vehicle or which is a secondary emergency exit within the meaning of Regulation 21, nor shall it apply in the case of a passage in a single-decked vehicle having a permanent top if the vehicle has a seating capacity not exceeding 14 passengers.

(2) Subject to paragraph 11 of Schedule 2, where any space in front of a seat in a vehicle adapted to carry more than 12 passengers is required for the accommodation of seated passengers, the space within 225 millimetres of the seat shall not be taken into account in measuring the width of a gangway:

Provided that the provisions of this paragraph shall not apply in relation to paragraph (1)(d) above where—

(i) the floor of the gangway is free of any obstruction; and

(ii) there are no other intrusions into the gangway space above the level of the deck of the vehicle.