Platform safety barriers could save lives at MTR's East Rail Line stations

A 27-year-old university graduate jumped to his death at Sha Tin station on the morning of July 28.

He was pronounced dead on the scene, and it was reported he had suffered from psychosis. Although we may never know the reasons behind his actions especially since cognitive impairment and thought disorder are hallmarks of psychosis, there is one thing we can be sure of - his death could have been prevented had there been safety barriers at this station.

Sha Tin is a former Kowloon-Canton Railway station now operated by the MTR Corporation. There is no concrete timeline for the construction of these barriers.

Research by the Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention shows that railway suicides on the MTR network dropped from 38 cases during a five-year pre-barrier-installation period to only seven cases in the five years post-barrier-installation. There was also a reduction of accidents from 131 to 42 along MTR lines. Furthermore, our study has shown that if the loss of fare revenue, passenger waiting times and life lost due to premature mortality are taken into account, safety barriers are cost-effective based on international standards.

Prior to the railway merger with MTR Corp, the KCRC had apparently resolved to retrofit automatic platform gates. It had decided to invest HK$100 million to install safety barriers along 13 East Rail Line station following several accidents on its tracks in 2005. It made this decision without asking for an additional injection of funds from the government. Lawmakers have called on the MTR to push ahead with the installation of safety barriers.

Despite this and scientific evidence from the World Health Organisation and International Association of Suicide Prevention and our research, the MTR is still reluctant to speed up the installation process. It sees a connection between the project and the Sha Tin-Central Link rather than as a standalone programme.