Making Platform Screen Doors
Safer and Handicap Friendly
By Lester Torres, Sadman, Rebecca, Mohammed
Instructor: Susan Delamare
April 25, 2023
The City College Of New York
Summary
Suicide or people getting pushed onto the tracks are common. As well as the lack of accessibility that wheelchair bound people have. Adding platform screen doors in the subway will reduce these issues by only having the platform open only when the train is in station and have motion detectors to monitor if customers are still using the doors this is especially good for the disabled. In this paper it explains what platforms screen door are, why they are important, and the cost it will take to have at the Time Square subway station.
Authors’ Note
This paper was prepared for English 21007 taught by Professor Susan Delamare.
Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………p. 3-4
Objectives…………………………………………………………………………………. p. 4
Preliminary Literature Review………………………………………………………………p. 5-6 Technical Description of Platform Doors…………………………………………………… p. 6-9 Budget………………………………………………………………………………………p. 9-10
References…………………………………………………………………………………. p. 11
List of Figures
Fig 1. Different PSD Designs…………………………………………………………………p. 7
Fig 2.Proposed Modifications to Existing Designs…………………………………………..p. 8
List of Tables
Table 1 Project Budget…………………………………………………………………………p. 10
Introduction
Public transportation is incredibly important to the vast number of people who live in urban areas around the world. Without trains, or buses, or any other means to get to places without a car, people would be greatly affected. Public transportation lowers the amounts of traffic, decreases the amount of pollution produced, and makes getting to places much cheaper. This is why various countries place so much emphasis on developing their public transportation infrastructure. And one of the most prominent forms of transportation is the subway. And in many new subway systems steps have been taken to ensure they run as smoothly as possible. One such step was the implementation of platform screen doors within several countries, such as Korea and Japan (Chung et. Al.,2016; Ueda Et. Al 2015). Platform Screen Doors (PSDs) are full cover barriers that are installed on subway platforms in order to prevent people from falling onto tracks, lowering the frequency of track fires and making passenger boarding more efficient. There are various additional benefits that have been attributed to the installation of PSDs, altogether they make them a valuable addition to any new subway systems around the world that are planning to install them. However, as with any form of technology there are always flaws to be addressed and improvements that must be made.
Because of the nature of their function, it is possible for many incidents to occur with PSDs. This is due to several aspects of their construction. Because they open automatically when a train arrives in the station, and close after a certain amount of time, it is possible for PSDs to close while someone is in between the door and the train. This causes a major issue for anyone who would take longer getting inside, this can range from the elderly to the disabled such as someone who is in a wheelchair. This doesn’t sound like a major issue until you consider the potentially fatal consequences of the train leaving the station while someone is stuck. Additionally, many people with disabilities can struggle with the use of PSDs. One such group that faces difficulties with PSDs are the blind, without any audio cues or aid from another person blind people are generally relegated to guess work based on the sounds of what is going on around them.
As such, two major improvements could be made to the general design of PSDs. The first one would address the issue of early closing doors. This would be the installation of motion sensors within the sides of the doorways. This would allow for the PSDs to know when there is something in between them and prevent them from closing until the obstruction is removed, this would therefore lower the risk of injury to passengers and generally improve upon the safety of their design. Additionally, the installation of speakers into the PSDs would allow for the addition of audio announcements that would improve the general experience for blind people. Announcements could be made that notify of oncoming trains or when they are about to depart the station. It would also allow for the added benefit of announcements for people who aren’t paying attention and general quality of life improvements.
The primary purpose of this proposal is to add more safety and handicap friendly modifications to platform screen doors.
Objectives
The purpose of this project is to propose modifications to platform screen doors in order to make them safer and more handicapped friendly. As such, the objectives of the project are:
1.1. Identifying the current dangers and issues with the safety precautions in Platform Screen Doors
1.2. Establishing the benefits of the intended modifications
1.3. Detailing the costs to modify existing PSD designs
The task schedule (Appendix A) describes the required amount of time and tasks needed to complete the project.
Preliminary Literature Review
Given the excitement over the various benefits of the installation of platform screen doors, little professional research has been done on the possible dangers associated with PSDs. Instead, it is possible to see the reduction of accidents attributable to PSDs and consider the effect that further improvements would have to decrease accidents caused by PSDs. Through the study of these benefits, it allowed us to understand the overall improvement to subway systems that installing PSDs can add. And through research done which directly showed the relation between costs and general improvements caused by the installation of PSDs, such as a 68.8% decrease in railway injuries across 5 years (Law et al.,2011) and an incremental cost-effective ratio of $65,400. This showed that the installation of PSDs greatly lowered the probability of incidents without being an expensive addition.
This shows that PSDs are already an incredibly effective way to reduce accidents within subway systems. However, what must be considered are documented cases of accidents that have been accredited to PSDs. Such as cases reported in Beijing, one of which was a death caused by a woman being stuck in between the screen doors and a closing train. (Kilpatrick, 2023). This incident shows that while PSDs are generally a reliable addition to Subway systems, they ultimately can still cause fatal accidents due to a lack of failsafe that can be relied upon when doors are about to close. PSDs close on a timed system, or when train doors close, this leaves major room for error due to the possibility of a passenger being in between them. Leading to potential injuries and fatalities. Additionally, a lack of consideration for the handicapped can be noted, as few studies mention any methods to accommodate passengers with special needs. Something that can be somewhat addressed through a built-in public-address system.
Technical Description
Platform Screen Doors generally have a very uniform design wherever they are installed, this is due to the way they function. They include several pieces that are universal to most designs. A large difference, however, can generally be the dimensions of the door systems. The doors themselves can range greatly in size depending on the subway system they are installed in. However, most designs include doors that measure 2 meters in height and width, with panels around 3 meters in length and upper structures measuring around 0.5 meters.
Figure 1
Different PSD Designs
Note. Reprinted from “Effects of Platform Screen Doors on Sound Fields in Underground Stations” by Y. Soeta et al., 2016, InTech
Figure 2
Proposed Modifications to Existing Designs
Note. Adapted From “Platform Screen Doors (PSD)” From railsystem.net, nda
- PSD Sliding Doors – The PSD sliding doors will remove the space between the platform and the train tracks. This means that once the sliding doors open commuters will be able to step onto the train.
- Fixed Panel – The fixed panels are responsible for holding the entire system in place and serve to block passengers from entering the tracks or being pushed inside.
- Motion Sensor – The Motion sensors, positioned around the doorways would be responsible for ensuring the doors cannot close when a passenger is between them. This would ensure that in the case of an emergency or many people tried to get in, the door is incapable of closing and causing a major incident.
- The PA system, installed in the available space within the upper structure would be responsible for announcing arrivals and departures. This would ensure that the blind or anyone who is in a hurry is able to get real time information on the status of the trains. And of when it is safe to board.
Budget
The Budget for developing the modifications is divided between the workers and the general material costs. For the development it is important to have a fully staffed team, this would include a Civil, Material, and Electrical engineer. This is important to ensure that the doors aren’t negatively affected by the inclusion of the new modifications. A materials engineer would ensure that any new designs used would take into consideration the most cost-effective material and weigh in on the necessary steps to ensure nothing conflicts with existing design choices. Additionally, the electrical engineer would be responsible for checking the wiring and connecting everything in a manner that would not cause flaws in the system, which would instead cause faults and more failures, leading to an increased risk of accidents. And finally, a civil engineer would need to be hired to ensure that the designs would be compatible with most subway systems around the world, which would need to be taken into consideration given the different electrical networks that countries put into place. As well as the unique architecture found around the world.
The material costs considered the prices and necessary equipment to develop a single door. This includes the cost of a plexiglass door, which would be a useful material for the base as well as any wiring needed to modify existing electrical networks and the cost for the specific modifications that are being put in place. This would fall under the costs of the speaker system and of the motion sensors, further research would need to be done on the specific costs of mass production, however.
Table 1
References
Soeta, Y., & Kim, Y. H. (2016). Effects of platform screen doors on sound fields in underground stations. Advances in Noise Analysis, Mitigation and Control. https://doi.org/10.5772/64627
Kilpatrick, R. (2014, November 7). Woman killed by Beijing Subway Platform Screen door. That’s Online. https://www.thatsmags.com/beijing/post/7435/woman-killed-by-beijing-subway-platform-screen-door
Law, C. K., & Yip, P. S. (2011). An economic evaluation of setting up physical barriers in railway stations for preventing railway injury: Evidence from Hong Kong. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 65(10), 915–920. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.2010.115188
Ueda, M., Sawada, Y., & Matsubayashi, T. (2015). The effectiveness of installing physical barriers for preventing railway suicides and accidents: Evidence from Japan. Journal of Affective Disorders, 178, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.02.017
Chung, Y. W., Kang, S. J., Matsubayashi, T., Sawada, Y., & Ueda, M. (2016). The effectiveness of platform screen doors for the prevention of subway suicides in South Korea. Journal of Affective Disorders, 194, 80–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2016.01.026
Appendix A – Task Schedule
