Mind the gap

For other uses, see Mind the gap (disambiguation).

"Mind the gap" shaped tiling on the District line platform at Victoria station
The Central line platform at Bank station with a 1-foot (30 cm) gap between the train and the platform edge
A typical "mind the gap" warning sign found on the Toronto subway
A former "Please mind the gap" sign on a Hong Kong MTR train

"Mind the gap" or sometimes "watch the gap" is an audible or visual warning phrase issued to rail passengers to take caution while crossing the horizontal, and in some cases vertical, spatial gap between the train doorway and the station platform edge.

The phrase was first introduced in 1968 on the London Underground in the United Kingdom. It is popularly associated with the UK among tourists because of the particularly British word choice (this meaning of the verb mind has largely fallen into disuse in American English, where the term "watch your step" is more commonly used).[1]

  1. ^ Samans, James C. (2007). Spontaneous Tourism: The Busy Person's Guide to Travel. Crystal Orb. p. 298. ISBN 978-0-9791897-0-8.
    Kuehn, Paul Richard (21 December 2023). "Differences Between British and American English". LetterPile.