Bucharest subway authority Metrorex to install protective panels on Line 4 platforms

Metrorex, the public authority managing Bucharest’s subway system, will install protective panels on platforms, starting with the Line 4 (Gara de Nord 2 - Gara Progresul) currently under construction, Profit.ro reported. The new stations will be equipped from the beginning with glass panels and automatic doors at the edge of the platform.

This is not the first time that Metrorex experiments with the so-called “anti-suicide” panels. In 2022, the company installed such platforms at the Berceni station, in southern Bucharest. The test was a success, and expansion will be underway once funds are secured.

"Metrorex works to identify solutions to increase passenger safety both in the public spaces of subway stations and inside the trains. The costs required for initiating/completing the investment and subsequently for maintenance, as well as the pandemic period that led to a decrease in revenues, combined with a significant increase in general costs, especially utility costs, have influenced and continue to influence decisions regarding investment objectives," the company told Profit.ro.

The financing for the M4 line totals EUR 2.5 billion in EU funds and is one of the largest public investments in Bucharest in recent years. The new subway line will have 14 stations, which will be arranged on a total length of approximately 11 km, crossing the territory of districts 1, 4 and 5, as well as the commune of Jilava in Ilfov county.

In December 2017, a young woman died after she was pushed onto the tracks by another woman. She attempted to climb back on the platform, but the aggressor kicked her and then ran away as the train was just entering the station. In 2022, another woman died after she fell onto the tracks and was trapped under the train entering Victoriei station.

(Photo source: Adrea | Dreamstime.com)