A new pilot project will see steel barriers installed at one downtown subway station this year to prevent people from falling or jumping onto the tracks, an initiative similar to one recently implemented at subway stations in New York City, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow announced Wednesday.
Chow said the barriers will be installed at TMU Station, located at Yonge and Dundas streets, steps from the Toronto Metropolitan University campus.
The announcement was made Wednesday at Bloor-Yonge Station by Chow and TTC CEO Mandeep Lali, who outlined a suite of safety measures being rolled out across the TTC.
In addition to the barriers, TMU Station will also be equipped with an AI-assisted early warning system camera that will help staff better detect issues at track level, they said.
In the Platform Edge Doors (PEDs) feasibility study released by city staff last summer, TMU Station was identified as the ideal station for a pilot project due to the “high incidence of track intrusions” and its status as one of the busiest stations in the downtown core.
“TMU Station offers an optimal location for evaluating the operational impact and effectiveness of PEDs under high-traffic conditions,” the study read.
“The station is located on Line 1, where the ATC system has been installed and is instrumental for the successful implementation of PEDs.”
The study indicates that it would take approximately 20 years and $4 billion to equip every station across the subway network with barriers.
Chow noted that it is not currently possible to install barriers at stations along Line 2 as the line does not have the Automatic Train Control (ATC) signaling system that ensures trains land in the same spot every time they arrive at a given station
The goal, Chow said, is to install barriers at four more subway stations along Line 1 next year.
When asked about the high cost for implementation, Chow conceded that other levels of government would need to step in to support that type of capital investment.
“We plan to do four more (stations),” Chow said. “The comprehensive system will need financial support from other levels of government.”
City staff said that the implementation of full-height barriers throughout the subway system could improve safety and operations in a number of ways.
“...the implementation of the full-height PEDs system throughout the subway network can mitigate unauthorized track intrusion, customer delay, injury and loss of life,” the study concluded.
