In the aftermath of recent high profile subway shovings that left two people dead, the Daily News reports that the MTA will reconsider installing sliding doors on some subway platforms...yet again. “We have to revisit it,” interim MTA Executive Director Thomas Prendergast said Friday. Of course, this plan has come up several times over the last few years—and has ultimately never been fulfilled.
That isn't to say that there haven't been a disturbing amount of deaths by subway this year: 54 people have died (a five year high, averaging out to more than one a week), and 139 people have been hit by trains. Last year, the MTA asked for proposals on any possible system; even more recently, Prendergast also brought up the idea, citing subway lines in the London and Paris system as examples of why "we can do it."
In 2007, the MTA investigated the possibility of installing floor-to-ceiling glass walls and sliding doors at the Second Avenue subway. Then in 2010, the MTA released a Request for Information for a pilot program, but nothing ever came of it. Even so, Crown Infrastructure submitted a response to install the doors for free, as long as it could collect revenue from LED video advertising on the barriers. “We haven’t made a conscious decision to table it and not do it at all, but we haven’t made a decision to keep it going either,” Prendergast said of their proposal. “It’s suspended animation.”
Update: Here's the full MTA statement about possibly revisiting the sliding doors, via Ravi Somaiya:
Based on the MTA's preliminary analysis, the challenge of installing platform edge barriers in the New York City subway system would be both expensive and extremely challenging given the varied station designs and the differences in door positions among some subway car classes. But in light of recent tragic events, we will consider the options for testing such equipment on a limited basis. Of course, we remind customers of the overall safety of the subway system but urge them to stand well back from the platform edge and remain watchful of their surroundings.
