Three Subway Stations to Test Floor-to-Ceiling Barriers to Protect Passengers on Platforms

By Yehudit Garmaise

After several train passengers were tragically killed when they were shoved onto subway tracks, floor-to-ceiling, protective barriers: between commuters and the tracks will be installed and tested at three NYC subway stations, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chairman Janno Lieber said Wednesday, but he said the process will “take a while.”

The barriers, which the MTA hopes will prove life-saving, will be installed at the Times Square 7 train, the Third Avenue L train, and the Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue E stop at the JFK AirTrain connection.

Platform screen doors, which are used in subway systems in Paris and around the world, can result in fewer deaths and cleaner tracks, Gothamist reported.

“The MTA pilot program is an important first step toward making our subway system a more resilient and safe place for commuting New Yorkers," Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine said. "It will not only help stop future tragedies like the Michelle Go murder, but also prevent other incidents like people falling on the tracks, suicide attempts, and track fires, which are some of the main causes of subway delays."

In December 2021, for instance, the MTA, which reported 14 incidents in which people on the tracks delayed trains, said that the agency recently saw a rise in the number of people who are walking on the tracks without the authority to do so.

“We're also going to be piloting new technologies to detect track incursion using thermal technology, using laser technology, so we can know more quickly when people get on the tracks and hopefully, interdict that kind of behavior,” Lieber said.

Photo: Flickr