Platform screen doors
The idea of platform edge doors dates from as early as 1908, when Charles S. Shute of Boston was granted a patent for "Safety fence and gate for railway-platforms".
Despite delivering an overwhelming improvement to passenger safety at the platform-train interface, platform screen doors do introduce new hazards which must be carefully managed in design and delivery.
The existing five stations on the Epping to Chatswood railway line were upgraded to rapid transit standard, all being fitted with full-height platform edge doors.
[33] Greater Montreal's forthcoming Réseau express métropolitain (REM), the 67-kilometre-long driverless complementary suburban rapid transit network opening in five phases between 2023 and 2027[34] will feature screen doors at each of its 26 stations.
With the advent of the REM on the horizon, calls to retrofit platform edge doors in the Montreal Metro to combat delays arising from overcrowding are becoming more common.
In June 2023, the operator of the Vancouver SkyTrain, TransLink announced a feasibility study into installing platform screen doors on the Expo and Millennium lines.
Paris Métro's line 14 from Saint-Lazare to Bibliothèque François Mitterrand was inaugurated in 1998 with platform screen doors manufactured by Faiveley Transport.
As of it, every new stations are getting brand new full platform screen doors, and it begins with the Line 14 extension inaugurated in 2024, from Saint-Denis pleyel to Orly Airport.
[citation needed] With the opening of the Tung Chung line and Airport Express, Hong Kong had its first full-height PSDs fully operational in 1998.
The MTR decided in 1999 to undertake the PSD Retrofitting Programme at 74 platforms of 30 select underground stations on the Kwun Tong, Island, and Tsuen Wan lines.
[48] The opening of the Sunny Bay and Disneyland Resort stations in 2005 also meant the first platform-edge doors entering operation for the MTR network.
From July 2000 to December 2013, the MTR Corporation collected a surcharge of 10 cents from each Octopus-paying passenger to help pay for the installation of PSDs and APGs.
The platform screen doors presently in service in the MTR have been supplied by the Swiss manufacturer Kaba Gilgen, the Japanese Nabtesco Corporation (under the Nabco brand), the French Faiveley Transport and Shenzhen Fangda Automatic System.
Apart from the MTR, all stations on the Hong Kong International Airport Automated People Mover are equipped with platform screen doors made from Westinghouse (for Phase 1)[53] and Panasonic (for Midfield Extension).
On the Delhi Metro, all stations on the Delhi Airport Metro Express line, which links to Indira Gandhi International Airport have been equipped with full-height platform screen doors since 2011 and the six busiest stations on the Yellow Line have also been equipped with half height platform gates.
[59] All the stations of under-construction Hyderabad Airport Express Metro will have a provision of half-height platform screen doors (PSD) for improved passenger safety.
[citation needed] The underground stations on the Red Line on the Tel Aviv Light Rail have full height Platform screen doors.
Some railway lines, including the subway systems in Sapporo, Sendai, Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto, and Fukuoka, also utilize barriers to some extent.
In August 2012, the Japanese government announced plans to install barriers at stations used by 100,000 or more people per day, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism allotted 36 million yen ($470,800) for research and development of the system the 2011-2012 fiscal year.
The automated announcement message reading "For safety reasons, please stand behind the yellow line" in both English and Malay languages are also heard before the train arrived at all stations.
[7] The safety aspects of these doors became more important in light of high-profile incidents where individuals were injured or killed by oncoming trains.
[84] However, Land Transport Authority stated that the retrofit was not motivated by the need to make the stations safe, "but to prevent system-wide delay and service disruption and to reduce the social cost to all commuters caused by track intrusions.
[88][needs update] As of 2017, 100% of subway stations are equipped with platform screen doors in Daejeon, Gwangju, Busan, Incheon and Daegu.
[citation needed] Platform screen doors were also trialed on four stations of line 12 (MetroSur) of the Madrid Metro from November 2009 until January 2010.
Today, almost all stations on the Bangkok Electrified Rail System have installed platform screen doors to prevent people from falling onto the tracks.
New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority has not committed to installing platform screen doors in its subway system, though it had been considering such an idea since the 1980s.
[100] Their installation presents substantial technical challenges, in part because of different placements of doors on New York City Subway rolling stock.
[102][103] Following a series of incidents during one week in November 2016, in which three people were injured or killed after being pushed into tracks, the MTA started to consider installing platform edge doors for the 42nd Street Shuttle.
[citation needed] Chicago O'Hare International Airport has a people mover system which operates 24 hours a day and is a 2.5 mile long (4 km) line that operates between the four terminals at the airport and parking areas; each station is fully enclosed with platform screen doors allowing access to the fully automated people mover trains.
[120] Between 1999 and 2012, London Underground's platform doors, all on the Jubilee line, were the cause of 75 injuries including strikes to people's heads and arms.
