By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — The MTA is in the early planning stages in a move to install sliding doors on subway platforms, according to reports.
Officials want to use the doors that open only once trains are in the station as a way to protect passengers from falling or being pushed on to the tracks, the Daily News repored.
The metal and glass barriers are already in place at the Air Train stations in Queens and New Jersey, the paper reported.
Last year, 90 people were hit by MTA trains and 40 died from their injuries, the News reported.
A Hell's Kitchen woman survived a push in front of the R train in August. Last week, a 24-year-old man died after falling onto the L train tracks in Brooklyn.
The MTA, which had a budget shortfall of $900 million last year, said it could possibly pay for the sliding doors and barrier by sharing ad revenue with the manufacturers, the News reported.
In addition to protecting passengers, sliding doors on the platform could save the MTA millions of dollars in lawsuit settlements and keep garbage off the tracks, which causes track fires, according to the paper.
