Modern Metro Systems and Stations

I'm on the subway in Moscow. It's a bit crowded. 

There is an enormous metro network here. There are subway exits on almost all main streets of the city. The layout of the city is a bit shaped according to the subway exits. 

The stations are also very artistic, who knows which artists worked here in the past, especially in the old metro stations in the center.

I have written about the Moscow metro before. Today I will talk about something a little different.

There is a platform in the center, usually a metro rail line to the left and right of the station, and at the ends of the station long escalators going down to such a depth. It makes you wonder how they built such long escalators, some of them are sometimes in need of repair, but usually they are always in working order. 

The metro is a very popular public transportation in Moscow. Especially during peak hours the stations are overflowing. You cannot even walk properly because of the crowd.

There is literally a human traffic jam at such times. You can't take a step, you just stand there waiting for people to move a little bit. Especially long queues form in front of the escalators. It's a traffic jam, but not between vehicles, but between people.

I keep an eye on the rails next to the platform where the wagons are docked. The rails are more than a meter lower than the platform level. When the wagons pull in and the doors open, the inside of the wagon and the platform are at the same level. It makes sense, of course. When the train pulls in, there is at most 10 cm to 15 cm between the wagon and the platform, maybe less. Good design, I think.

However, I also keep an eye on the crowd. People are in a rush inside the station. I told you, it's peak hour. It could be rush hour, or it could be morning rush hour, it doesn't matter. Everyone is trying to get somewhere. Some are going to take the buses after the metro exit, some are running for something else. I don't know, but everyone seems to be in a hurry.

My eyes fall on the tracks again. 

The metro trains run on electricity. And this electricity is not the electricity we use at home. 

You know, maybe at home, maybe you were accidentally electrocuted. It's quite a shock. Some of you may have experienced being electrocuted either by accidentally touching a broken appliance or, I don't know, by a leaky washing machine. Even replacing an exploding lamp can electrocute you if you're not careful. I've been electrocuted quite a bit.

The subways also run on electricity, but with a very high voltage. If I am not mistaken, the subways run on 1000 volts of electricity, maybe more. And not with alternating current like in homes, but with direct current like in batteries. High voltage is dangerous in any case, but direct current is much more dangerous at high voltage. 

There are 9 volt batteries like cheese slices, you know, you put them in battery toys and things like that. When you touch your tongue to both poles, even they can shock you. I'm talking 1000 volts, more than a hundred times the voltage of the batteries in those toys. If you touch it, you'll be charred instantly.

I look at the crowd again, the rush of people.

On the platform sides, there is a line about 60 cm inside the edge where the wagons dock. In the new stations, they even made this line lighted. What a nice idea. It attracts people's attention.

While waiting for the train, there is an announcement not to stand closer to the edge than this line. There is also an announcement that the train is coming, be careful, I think the line announcement is made in the meantime. Even if they don't make announcements, the air flow from the tunnel to the station shows that the train is coming. 

Metro trains move very fast. Isn't that why they are the most convenient public transportation? You get where you want to go quickly.

People are conscious in Moscow. They don't move aside. They usually don't go beyond that line on the ground. And the train goes so fast that until it stops at the station, it is really dangerous to go beyond the line and get hit by the carriage.

But I think even more dangerous is when you are waiting for the subway train. Below are the rails and 1000 volts of electricity.

I bend down a little bit and look, but they've made a special system for the electrical connection of the train. A busbar system with special protection on it. A busbar is like a thick cable that can carry high current, usually with copper rods inside, like a busbar. A spring-loaded end coming out of the train makes the electrical connection with this busbar secretly, they have thought of a system that constantly slides and touches the busbar as the train goes. I think the rails are also used for the neutral connection, because I also see thick electric cables being connected to the rails.

No matter how much protection is done, I think this is a very dangerous system, if someone touches it in such a crowd, you will lose your balance and fall off the platform. You will definitely get hit. If you fall off the platform while the train is coming, even if you don't get hit, you will definitely be crushed.

Every now and then I read news like this. While trying to catch the train, he tripped and fell down on the tracks and lost his life, or someone pushed him and he fell. There are such tragic news in the newspapers here sometimes. There are also cameras at the stations, there can be such tragic videos on YouTube.

I think of elevators. In the elevator shaft, there is a car that moves in the space like a subway car. But when you are inside the car, the door is closed from the inside, and there is a landing door on each floor, which is also closed. You don't feel any danger in the elevator. At least there is no danger in modern elevators. I also come across old type elevators with a single door in some buildings. In these old elevators, the car may not have a door. But usually elevators have double doors.

What was that fear of staying indoors? I'm not talking about claustrophobia or something like that. Modern elevators have double safety features. When the cabin reaches the floor, both the cabin door and the floor door open. They work in synchronization. This means that a safe system can be established when desired. 

Couldn't this system also be considered in subways? 

Actually, it would be very nice. When the subway train moving in a closed tube approaches the platform, the platform doors will open and the doors of the wagons will open. Thus, there will be no risk of falling onto the platform while waiting for the train. But it has to be synchronized very well, after all, when the train stops, the doors of the wagons and the platform have to coincide. The speed of the elevator is very low, this synchronization can be done. 

The subways move much faster. I think it is not easy to synchronize.

I wonder if they have thought of this in any subway in the world?

Why wouldn't they make such a system? No matter how difficult it is, we are in the age of technology, a synchronization solution can be found if desired.

I've been looking around a bit on the internet. 

I think there are a few stations like this on the London Underground. There is not much information about the details, but I think they started such a system in London.

I don't know if it has been considered elsewhere, but I can say that this issue is missing in the Moscow metro. Unfortunately, this issue is not taken into consideration in many cities around the world. I don't remember seeing anything like this in our stations either.

We are building a lot of new metro lines in Istanbul. I wonder if anyone has thought about this in the new lines? 

After all, if we are building subways in modern times, even if we are late, doesn't it make sense to build the most modern ones?

Although the historical metro stations in Moscow are priceless places of artistic value, they don't even have elevators for the disabled. But in some of the newer stations they have recently installed elevators for the disabled. 

As I said, in the new stations they have also lighted the line on the ground. These developments are good things of course. But it is not possible for them to do such things in old stations. Each of them is like a work of art, and it is a pity to touch them.

For example, I hope they have thought of an elevator. It is not easy to build elevators in very deep stations, but I don't think our stations are very deep either.

In Moscow, some stations can be hundreds of meters deep, especially in the center, as several lines overlap. There are not a few stations where you have to descend down one escalator and continue with another one and go down quite deep. 

There are also underground tunnels between the stations to get from one line to another. I've written before that you can go wherever you want in Moscow with a single ticket.

These tunnels can sometimes be very long. I wish they would think of walking platforms for these tunnels. Like the ones you see at airports.

Yes, these are all important details in modern stations. But I think this safety panel wall next to the platform is really necessary, I think it should be considered as a priority. 

After all, the statistics of fatal accidents at subway stations in the world are not small. If it is technologically feasible, why don't we implement such a system in Istanbul, or in other cities where subway constructions are underway?

Would it be expensive? Come on, you are building a huge tunnel underground, and the stations must cost a lot of money. The wagons alone cost a lot of money. Is the aluminum panel wall you will build on the edge of the platform expensive? OK, there will be automatic opening and closing doors on it, but I think the cost is a drop in the bucket.

I advise everyone to think a little more humanitarian. I say human life, I say 1000 volts, I say trains pass very fast when they come to the station until they stop.

Even if nothing happens, is it a small thing to fall more than one meter down onto the tracks? You would definitely break something. Especially for people over a certain age, it is much more dangerous. After a certain age, because of the deterioration of the bone structure, older people break something if they fall on the road. I'm talking about a platform more than a meter high. If they fall from this height, who knows where they would break.

That's why I don't think the cost is important at all. You should do the best while you can. If necessary, save on luxuries, but I think the platform and these curtain walls with retractable doors should be built.

For some reason, this subject came to my mind today. I hope this will reach the ears of the decision makers. Nobody has time to hear such things these days, but if the goal is to touch people, here is a project that touches people. 

Love and respect to everyone from Moscow