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Three subway stations in Manhattan and Queens plan to test new barriers on platforms following a surge in random violent incidences of riders being pushed onto the tracks.
The platform doors will be introduced at the Times Square, Third Avenue (at East 14th Street), and Sutphin Boulevard-JFK stations for the 7, L and E lines, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chair Janno Lieber announced on Wednesday.
However, Lieber has ruled out platform barriers as part of the MTA’s current capital improvement plan for now, since ‘a lot of stations’ don’t have the proper engineering for the sliding doors to work.
He further explained that the three stations were selected for the experiment because they could support technology for the barriers – sliding doors between the platform and the tracks that open when the subway arrives.
He did not disclose how expensive the program would be and there is no timeline for it. But a 3,000-page MTA report from 2019 found the barrier doors could work only at 128 stations — roughly a quarter of the 472 stops on the system — and would cost $7 billion.
The limited number of stations is due to station structure, the design of subway cars and the need for wheelchair access.
New York’s subway system is entering its 118th year, with 472 stations and 665 miles of track. Lieber has been MTA chair since Jan of this year, but has been acting chair since July 2021.
The platform barriers will be introduced in the Big Apple at Times Square on the 7 line (pictured), Third Avenue on the L line and JFK Airport on the E line
The move by the MTA comes after a number of fatal incidents involving several commuters being shoved off subway platforms, including 40-year-old Michelle Alyssa Go, who was killed when she was pushed onto the tracks by a disturbed homeless man in January.
In November 2021, a woman, and in January, a 62-year-old man also were pushed onto the tracks while waiting for a subway in Manhattan.
Passenger safety doors on platform edges are used in the subway system in London, United Kingdom. Due to the rising number of straphangers being pushed onto the tracks in random attacks in New York City, the MTA is looking into building similar barriers in most stations throughout New York City.
After Go’s death, public transit advocates called on the MTA to build the platform barriers, which are used in subway systems in Asia and Europe, as well as on AirTrain platforms at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
‘This 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 in a statement.
‘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.’
Previously, MTA officials refused to consider the idea, due to hefty installation costs, and complications from the age of the New York City subway system.
Andy Byford, who was the former MTA president between 2018 and 2020, told the NY Post that he thought of introducing screen doors during his two-year tenure but he ultimately decided to enhance signal modernization in order to speed up service, which he deemed as more important.
‘The cost to retrofit platforms in NYC (and in London) would be very high,’ Byford said. ‘The platforms were in most cases, not designed to carry the weight of the doors, even half height versions. Add into the mix the fact that a fair number of NYC platforms are curved and you have even more of a challenge — you’d be looking at a lot of platform rebuilds.’
‘We concluded that the cost and disruption … was not a realistic consideration at that time and that we should focus our attention on the signaling first,’ added Byford, who is now in charge of running London’s transportation system.
However, Lieber now wants to prioritize the pilot program.
‘Months ago, I started seeing that the number of people getting on the tracks and in the tunnels was going up. There’s been a significant increase. So I created an interagency group at the MTA to study it,’ he told NY1.
MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber (pictured) announced the plan on Wednesday but also shared his concerns for ‘a lot of stations’ that don’t have the proper engineering for the sliding doors to be installed in
The MTA also shared that it will be testing new technology that would use thermal sensors and lasers to assess whether a person has fallen onto the tracks
Lieber added Wednesday that track safety is a ‘complicated issue’ and that the MTA intends to work with more psychiatric experts at New York University (NYU) to help those with mental health problems who are dangerous in the stations.
The MTA also shared that it will be testing new technology that would apply thermal sensors and lasers to detect if a person has fallen onto the tracks. This technology was first discussed in 2013.
The timeline of any of these changes remain unclear; Lieber said the MTA is waiting to collect the appropriate funding needed for them.
For the past two years, New York’s subway system has observed a surge in attacks underground, including passengers being pushed onto the tracks.
In 2021, 30 people were pushed onto the track, compared to 20 in 2019 – when ridership was higher before the coronavirus pandemic.
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