The previous study found that installing them at 128 stations - or just over a quarter of the MTA’s 472 stations - could cost close to $7 billion, with nearly $120 million in annual maintenance costs. The project at the three stations is expected to be completed by 2024 and cost more than $100 million, according to an MTA spokesperson. Members and sponsors make THE CITY possible. The study, completed in February 2020, was not made public until last month amid renewed calls for increased platform safety after Michelle Go was pushed to her death in front of an R train at Times Square-42nd Street. “It’s Times Square, at on the L train, and the Sutphin Boulevard stop, where the JFK AirTrain connects,” he said.Ī 3,920-page systemwide feasibility study identified the three stations as among those where the protective barriers are an option. Lieber at the time acknowledged they are “an idea that works in many places,” while saying “special complexities in New York” largely make the barriers a no-go in the subway.īut during an appearance Wednesday on NY1, Lieber said the MTA will test the barriers at three stations where automatic platform gates or platform screen doors were found to be feasible. THE CITY reported last month on the MTA’s previous attempts to test platform doors, noting they are used in transit systems around the world and even locally on the AirTrain. The commitment from Janno Lieber, the MTA Chairperson and CEO, marks an about-face for a transit agency that has long argued that potential billion-dollar costs and engineering hurdles make installing the protective barriers a non-starter across much of the 117-year-old subway system. Facing a surge in the number of people trespassing on the tracks - and weeks after a woman was pushed to her death in front of a train - the MTA is opening the door to testing platform barriers in three subway stations.

Barriers on the tube line