The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has installed safety rails at a Washington Heights subway station as part of a new pilot program – but Big Apple straphangers say they’re not sold on the idea.
“They should put barriers at every train station in the city – but not like this one,” David Mejia, a customer service representative for the Long Island Rail Road, told The Post Monday at the 191st Street 1 train station.
“What are they gonna actually do?” Mejia said. “There are openings still. What’s the point?”
Retail worker Christopher Mills called the bright yellow rails “a cheap option” at best.
“In Japan, for example, you have high-tech barriers that cover the gaps,” Mills said. “But this is just a start.”
The MTA installed the barriers in the wake of a track-trespassing task force report last year that sought to address subway system falls, shoves and jumps.
The barriers were placed on the edge of the platform over the weekend, with gaps in the railings and enough space for straphangers to get in and out of subway cars.
“This is about finding creative ways to improve safety,” MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said in a statement. “A hearty pat on the back to New York City Transit professionals who found a practical way to jump-start the feeling – and the reality – of safety in the subway system.”
The plan is to try out the barriers at three other stations next – the West Eighth Street New York Aquarium F and Q train station, the Clark Street 2 and 3 rain station and a fourth that has yet to be determined, MTA officials announced.
“It’s still in an experimental phase,” Lieber said.
The agency said New York City Transit last year deployed similar barriers at three stations and is continuing to monitor how effective those are at keeping New Yorkers off the tracks.
But the idea met with more head-scratching than thumbs up at the 191st Street station Monday.
“They look ugly,” said straphanger Alex Jakischova. “When I heard they were going to put something up, I really thought it was going to be something more modern. I thought it was going to cover everywhere and go up and down.”
Another subway rider who only identified herself as “L” said she didn’t see the point.
“It’s been a big issue here on 191st Street,” she said. “A lot of people are being pushed on the tracks or falling on the tracks, whether they’re sick or high or intoxicated, I don’t know. They should do what they do in London. In London, they close it completely.”
The barriers could also hinder busy straphangers – on Monday the doors on incoming trains didn’t always line up with the openings in the yellow barriers, forcing riders to sidle around them.
Some, however, took it in stride.
“I didn’t even notice, to tell you the truth,” UPS driver Steven Heard said. “They do look kinda safe.
“[But] adults know what they’re doing. If they want to get on the tracks,” he added. “It’s good for the kids. Kids are running here. It’s just a little sign that says, ‘Hey, slow down.'”