The Shanghai Metro is to install barriers between the platform and rails to prevent accidents.
A barrier system at each subway station was part of the original design of Shanghai Metro's No. 1 line, but was not used because the company could not arrange a supplier before the line opened in 1994.
The barrier-free platforms, however, have posed a danger to the700,000 passengers who travel by subway daily.
Over the past eight years, more than 20 passengers have been killed after they accidentally fell from the platform into the path of an oncoming train.
To prevent such tragedies, Shanghai Metro decided last year to follow the original plan and construct barriers.
The company will invite tenders from manufacturers worldwide for the project, but will also undertake part of the construction itself, a Shanghai Metro engineer says.
"If everything goes according to plan, the first barrier will be installed in one of the downtown metro stations by October," he says.
Safety issues are also at the top of Beijing's Metro agenda, as a young woman killed herself two months ago by jumping off the platform in a Beijing subway station. Two weeks later a college girl lost a leg in another accident.
(eastday.com March 24,2002)
