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Adjustable train platform door tested in Saitama

13 Comments

Private railway operator Seibu Railway has begun testing a prototype adjustable train door system at Shin-Tokorozawa Station in Saitama Prefecture.

According to the operator, the experimental platform edge door system has been installed for evaluation purposes at the Tokorozawa end of platform 1 for a period of around half a year.

The technology, nicknamed "Dokodemo Saku," (Anywhere Door) is a platform edge barrier system designed to prevent accidents and access to the tracks as trains approach, TBS reported Monday. The barrier system, jointly developed by the University of Tokyo and Kobe Steel, is designed to move its automatic doors to a variety of positions to match the doors of trains of differing lengths and specifications.

Seibu Railway said the test installation, just one car long, will be monitored by Tokyo University researchers, who will continue to attempt to optimize its speed and safety as the trial proceeds.

In an effort to reduce the number of accidents and suicides involving people falling or jumping from train platforms at stations in Tokyo, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism began a project in 2011 to install automatic gates at 235 stations in Tokyo.

But work has been proceeding slowly due to technical difficulties and spiralling costs. One reason is due to the complex structure of each platform; the shape and numbers of the doors differ according to different types of trains.

Transport ministry officials and rail operators hope the adjustable platform doors will speed up the work.

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13 Comments
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This is a great idea, especially for JR East train stations that have to deal with a lot of train types like Shinjuku, Shibuya, Omiya, Ueno, Tokyo, Shingawa and Yokohama Stations (e.g., stations that sees service of both local commuter and long-distance express trains).

5 ( +5 / -0 )

**In an effort to reduce the number of accidents and suicides involving people falling or jumping from train platforms at stations in Tokyo, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism began a project in 2011 to install automatic gates at 235 stations in Tokyo.

Here's a cheaper solution: Have trains slow down to a crawl before they reach the platform. That way, anyone jumping would never be killed, they just hurt themselves.

-6 ( +0 / -6 )

Ian, that sounds like a sensible solution, and it's one that the New York City subway drivers' union recommends to its members. But it would also cause crippling delays that would ripple throughout the metropolitan area train system, especially during rush hour. The train service here has been too perfectly fast and punctual for too long; people would never accept that change.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

If they built the barrier a metre or more back from the platform edge then the doors in the barrier would not have to match the doors on the train (as per some Shinkansen platforms). Those areas on exiting platforms which are already less than a metre wide would also have to be sealed by a barrier at each end until the train has stopped.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Harry_Gatto, That also might help improve safety, but on already cramped subway and JR platforms, it's just completely impossible. Shinkansen platforms are much wider, and generally speaking serve much fewer passengers at one time than regular train line platforms. That extra meter into the platform would create an impenetrable choke of people all the way up the stairs.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Let's just pause for a moment and think about the function of these platform doors.

If they're to prevent people accidentally falling off the platform then drive metal posts into the platforms every 5 or so meters, and put in automatic expanding gates, about 150cm high. They slide open as the train comes in, they slide closed as the train goes out. You could even use the train's own motion to open and close them. Cheap, easy to install, and pretty much maintenance free apart from some oil.

As for using these to stop suicides.... does anyone use their brain in JR? So there are gates on the platform... darn, I'd better give up on committing suicide... or I could save myself the cost of a train ticket and walk 100m down from the station and jump off the bridge in front of the train. There are literally thousands of meters of track WITHOUT gates for every meter of track with a gate. This isn't a practical or sensible suicide prevention measure.

What is then? Change the headlines. In the headlines we keep seeing, "person killed by train", "train delayed by suicide victim", etc. In all my time in Japan I've only seen two unsuccessful train suicide headlines. This creates the impression in people's mind that it is a quick, cheap, and reliable way to commit suicide. This is the key problem.

Put up posters of people in hospital beds missing limbs or covered in plaster and a large yen amount saying how much they owe JR for the delays, plus their prison sentence. Make newspapers publish more than "attempted suicide", make them publish the full story, with follow-ups every year about how they're struggling to pay back JR, and how they can't walk/see/have sex, etc.

The right PR would stop this problem more effectively than a thousand gates.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

"Anywhere door"? Sounds like people who are on the platform are pretty much sure they are not going anywhere aside from their destination. I get the Doraemon reference, and fully expect a mascot in the near future, but still. Name aside, I'm glad to see some places are finally taking it on themselves to try to limit the suicides here that are ever so easy by train. It'll take a while, and a lot of money, but hopefully it catches on more than the whole 'blue light' thing didn't.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

It cant be that hard to figure out, simply design and build a standardised trian carriage to operate on the same line that way all the trains fit all the door barriers. system can be introduced gradually too.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

If there is one thing that there is no shortage of are stores with their metal horizontal doors. For trains this door problem can be solved with similar materials and mechanisms but perhaps as metal vertical blinds. Doesn't have to be metal, maybe a lighter see through material but with a lot of strength, like a variation of polycarbonate that has a lot of different types and grades.

As doors open they release tracks on the top and bottom to slide open. That way it doesn't matter how wide the door is as it will always open to the size required. Optical sensor to match door to slats. Then only those floor/ceiling tracks activate. They could be inline with the platform edges themselves so there's no spacing questions. So it wouldn't take up platform space.

Otherwise you can keep the system horizontal and merely raise up from the floor a few metres and then drop when a train stops. Then it doesn't have to match the doors however it would be a larger mechanism to lift it. Advantage is that gravity would drop the door. Maybe try hydraulic capture to use the down weight to mitigate the energy needed to raise it again.

Lots of ways to solve this problem. This is a fun design challenge, to only imagine what the solution looks like from the description of text like this article. In teams different design engineers would come up with different solutions. Not a design student any more :'( but that would be my take on it.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Watched the news and they showed the system in operation, looked impressive.

Great for stations like Mitaka where the NEX, Kaiji and Chuo-line use the same platform.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

But work has been proceeding slowly due to technical difficulties and spiralling costs. One reason is due to the complex structure of each platform; the shape and numbers of the doors differ according to different types of trains.

and how much will be the cost of this project? perhaps higher or more or less the same. Anyway, good idea to make use of massive liquidity available through Abenomics.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Is there a picture of this door? It would be nice to see what it looks like.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Seems like a good idea. Something like 30,000 kill themselves every year. Maybe half by train...?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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