Home » News » MTA Launches Trial Program for Platform Gates to Prevent Subway Accidents

MTA Launches Trial Program for Platform Gates to Prevent Subway Accidents

NEW YORK — After years of pressure and sometimes stiff resistance, the MTA says it is underway in a trial program to build gates on subway platforms to prevent passengers from falling onto the train tracks.

These types of gates are common in cities like London, and were considered in New York in 2012 and again in 2016, both times amid a rise in deaths from people falling onto subway rails.

The gates are intended to prevent people from falling or being pushed onto the subway tracks.

But it took on renewed urgency in January 2022 after Michelle Go was thrown in front of a train at the Times Square station and lost her life, a case that sparked national outrage over violence against the Asian community, security in the system traffic and mental health management.

There will be three stations getting the barrier gates in a test schedule confirmed by the MTA: Times Square (Line 7), 14th Street and Third Avenue (Line L) in Manhattan, and the Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue Station (Line E). in queens.

MTA Chairman Janno Lieber previously told our sister network News 4 that the platform gates project will cost more than $100 million and will likely take years to develop and implement. The pilot project is moving forward in the acquisition process, the transit agency said.

The MTA has already installed a pilot barrier design at the 57-7th Avenue station in the center of the platform to provide protection against a passenger being pushed from behind. But the new subway gates will stretch the length of the platform.

No timetable has been provided for when the new security measures might be implemented at the three stations. Authorities said they have to investigate who will build the gates.

2023-06-05 20:08:10
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