MTA Tests New Safety Rails at NYC Subway Station Amid Mixed Reviews

The barriers, installed as part of a pilot program, aim to improve safety by preventing falls, shoves, and jumps onto the tracks.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has installed safety rails at the 191st Street subway station in Washington Heights as part of a new pilot program.
The barriers, which are bright yellow rails, were installed in response to a track-trespassing task force report last year that sought to address subway system falls, shoves, and jumps.
The barriers have received mixed reviews from subway riders, with some criticizing their aesthetics and questioning their effectiveness.
The MTA plans to test the barriers at three other stations next: the West Eighth Street New York Aquarium F and Q train station, the Clark Street 2 and 3 rain station, and a fourth yet to be determined.
An MTA study from 2020 found that automatic platform doors like the ones found in many newer train systems across the world would be costly to build and physically impossible to install in nearly three-quarters of New York's stations.