Could Platform Barriers Be the Key to Safer Subways?

As you wait for your train to arrive after a long day of school, you hear an announcement that a track fire has caused your train to be delayed yet again. You sigh, turning to your friend to complain, but before you can get a word out, a train rushes past on the opposite track, screeching loudly and blowing dust towards you. When you glance down at your phone, you see another story about someone getting pushed onto the tracks pop up in your feed.

Sounds familiar? You’re not alone in your dissatisfaction—in the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s (MTA) Fall 2024 customer survey, only 49 percent of respondents reported feeling satisfied with the subway system. From concerns about being pushed onto the tracks, which occurred 24 times during 2024, to irritation due to delays and noise pollution, riders throughout New York City feel unsafe and frustrated. But, what can actually be done to increase rider satisfaction and safety?

Implemented programs to improve the subway experience haven’t had a significant impact thus far. To try to combat violent crime, Mayor Eric Adams has increased police presence and expanded both social services and mental health outreach programs throughout our subway system, but these efforts haven’t been impactful in the short term, since crime rates continue to rise. While increasing police presence can reduce crime in individual stations, it is not a scalable solution for crime throughout our expansive, 450-station subway system. This also does very little to help alleviate other problems on the subway, such as delays and pollution. Instead, a more effective, long-term solution needs to be implemented.

Installing platform screen doors is one possible solution. Platform screen doors create a barrier between the edge of the platform and the tracks and only open when a train has stopped at a station. These devices are a clear solution to safety-related concerns such as being pushed onto the tracks; they also tackle a host of other problems, such as noise pollution and delays caused by track fires.

Currently, platform doors are present in cities with newer subway systems—such as Shanghai’s, which was built in the 1990s—but that doesn’t mean installing platform doors in a city with an older subway system like New York’s is a completely infeasible plan. Cities with pre-existing subway systems, such as Hong Kong, have successfully installed platform doors in a number of older stations. Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTR) began installing platform doors on the city’s East Rail Line in 2023, and it has implemented measures to minimize interruptions to normal service while the installation process continues. The MTR has structurally enhanced platforms prior to installation and has focused on installing the platform screen doors during less busy hours, which will allow them to finish the project by the end of this year. Other cities have focused on installing platform doors as part of the process of building new stations—notably, London has been installing platform doors in stations on the newer Jubilee Line as stations are built. Since other cities have found ways to install screen doors into their subway systems, it seems feasible for the MTA to do the same in some New York City stations.

The benefits of installing platform doors also extend beyond preventing incidents of people being pushed into the tracks. On New York City subway tracks, loose trash spark around 700 fires a year. These track fires cause a multitude of problems. In the case of a fire, the MTA must stop trains on the affected track and reroute them, which often leads to congestion and severe delays. Additionally, the cost of maintenance after a track fire is often quite high. Installing platform screen doors prevents litter from reaching the tracks, lowering the chances of track fires. This means that platform screen doors would be financially beneficial to the MTA by lowering operating and recovery costs while preventing delays.

Platform doors may also benefit riders by improving air quality within stations. They prevent fine dust on the tracks from swirling onto the platform every time a train rushes by—a problem that is quite severe in New York City, where subway stations have about seven times more PM2.5 particulate matter than the EPA recommendation. These screen doors have been known to have a positive impact on air quality, and a study conducted in Korea revealed a significant reduction in PM10 pollution on platforms after platform screen doors were installed.

In addition, full-height platform screen doors—which extend from the ceiling to the floor of the platform— lower noise pollution. In Japan, platform screen doors reduce the noise level of trains entering the station by about five decibels. This effect might be even more pronounced in New York, where subways are significantly louder than in Japan. The noise levels on subway platforms in New York are typically around 75 decibels, but they can go as high as 119 decibels, significantly exceeding the recommended average limit of 70 decibels.

There are already plans to test platform doors in New York. In January of this year, Governor Hochul authorized funding to install platform screen doors in select subway stations. The plan initially targets the busiest transit hubs but eventually expands to more stations. However, similar plans have been suggested in the past but are consistently postponed due to budget constraints. In order to realize the benefits of platform screen doors, the MTA needs to prioritize testing and installation, even if only on a small scale.

Currently, funding for these projects is expected to come from revenue generated by congestion pricing. The Trump administration’s recent order to cancel congestion pricing in New York may impede the progress of platform screen door installation once again. It’s important for New Yorkers to make their voices heard in support of programs like congestion pricing that could fund the much-needed screen door installation. Through small steps such as mentioning platform screen doors as a priority when filling out the MTA’s customer count survey, we can support a safer, cleaner, and more efficient subway system.