"More Startling Than Cell Phones" Subway Platform Gap Incidents Occur 80 Times Annually... Greatly Reduced After Installing 'This'

Installation of 'Automatic Safety Platforms' at 5 Stations
1 Accident Occurred in 3 Months
Main Cause: 'Smartphone and Earphones'
Plan to Install 585 Locations by 2025

Recently, following screen doors, automatic safety footboards have been gaining attention as a measure to prevent subway accidents. This is because accidents have significantly decreased after installing them in places where feet frequently slip between the train and the platform.

Before and after the installation of the automatic safety step.
[Photo by Seoul Metro]

On the afternoon of the 12th at City Hall Station on Seoul Subway Line 2 in Jung-gu, Seoul, Jeon So-yeon (29) said, “There are times when I almost misstep while rushing to catch the subway during my commute, which surprises me,” adding, “Now that the footboard is installed, I don’t have to worry about that anymore.” The 'automatic safety footboard' rises when it is confirmed that the train has stopped precisely at the designated position, linked with the platform safety doors. After the doors close, sensors detect whether any passengers remain, and then the footboard lowers again. Upon inspection of the installed device, the gap between the train and the platform was narrow enough that even a child’s foot could not slip through.

Curved subway platforms are designed to prevent corner contact as a 20-meter-long train moves through, which can result in a gap exceeding 100 mm between the train and the platform. At such stations, screen doors display the phrase “Wide gap between train and platform,” and when a train arrives, an announcement warns passengers to “Be careful of foot slipping.”

However, foot slipping accidents occur frequently. From 2018 to 2022, a total of 381 platform foot slipping accidents were reported. An analysis of the 79 cases from last year showed that women (56 cases) were more affected than men (23 cases). By age group, there were 2 cases under 10, 3 cases in their teens, 22 cases in their 20s, 19 cases in their 30s, 12 cases in their 40s, 9 cases in their 50s, 9 cases in their 60s, 2 cases in their 70s, and 1 case aged 80 or older. Most accidents occurred because passengers were wearing earphones and could not hear announcements well or were looking at their phones while boarding.

To prevent foot slipping accidents, Seoul Metro installed automatic safety footboards at 25 locations across five stations?City Hall Station, Chungmuro Station, Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station, Sungshin Women’s University Station, and Dongdaemun Station?at the end of June and began a pilot operation. At these five stations, foot slipping accidents numbered 35 in 2019, 17 in 2020, 8 in 2021, 26 in 2022, and 8 from January to June 2023. However, after the installation of the automatic safety footboards, only one accident occurred from July to September. With the effectiveness of the automatic safety footboards proven, the devices are planned to be expanded. A Seoul Metro official stated, “We are considering installing automatic safety footboards at 585 locations across 72 stations by 2025.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.