Screen doors make city's subways safer

(Global Times)

13:48, October 18, 2011

Platform screen doors are to be installed on subway platforms on Line 13 and the Batong Line to keep passengers safe, according to the Beijing Infrastructure Investment Company.

Both lines will first equip one of their stations with the doors for a trial run within the year. Guanzhuang station is to be the first spot on the Batong Line, while subway Line 1, one of the existing four lines in Beijing without screen doors, will be fully equipped by 2012, according to a Beijing Youth Daily report Monday. Four lines remain unscreened from tracks, but the retrofit will be completed within four years. 

The project was recently approved by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform, and it has received government funding of 424 million yuan ($66 million), according to Beijing infrastructure company. 

Passengers approve of the project, as reports about passenger suicide, accidental falls and injuries have been worrying commuters. 

"It's a lot safer taking subways with platform screen doors," said a resident surnamed Wu, who lives in Huilongguan, Changping district, and takes Line 13 every day to work. 

"It seems the subway platform at Huilongguan Station is not wide enough as it's one of the most crowded subway stations in Beijing," she said, "I always feel like I'm being pushed towards the edge of the platform."

A man attempted suicide by jumping onto the tracks at Beijing station, Subway Line 2 on September 27. He was uninjured as the station cut off the electricity supply, Beijing Daily reported. 

A woman in her 60s fell off the platform at Jishuitan Station, Subway Line 2 on September 10, just as a train was approaching the station. The woman sustained severe injuries, Beijing News reported. Line 2 is one of the lines still without platform screen doors. 

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