Opening of passenger doors in metro and tram traffic

Hazards occur in both metro and tram traffic when the driver opens the doors of the metro train or tram on the wrong side. Opening of the doors on the wrong side has not been technically prevented in all respects. These situations always pose a risk of serious danger: in the metro, passengers may fall onto the track next to a live conductor rail, and in tram traffic, passengers step directly into traffic.

Metropolitan Area Transport Ltd investigate the possibility of technically preventing the opening of doors on the wrong side of the metro and tramway fleet.

The risk of opening doors on the wrong side also applies to railway rolling stock. Therefore the potential technical solutions should be introduced in all railway rolling stock as far as possible.

Metropolitan Area Transport Ltd has identified the doors opening on the wrong side of the metro train as a risk that requires additional measures. It has previously prepared its own thematic investigation on the topic, based on which a project had been launched with the aim of implementing a system to prevent erroneous opening of the doors on the wrong side of the metro train. The technical implementation of the project has been slower than intended, but the system has now been installed to M100 and M200 series of trains. On M300 series of trains, the serial installation phase has not yet started, but the system will also be installed on these metro trains.
In the case of tramways, the same risk applies to the new two-way carriage fleet designed for a light rail type of environment. The likelihood of error in tram traffic is low, as the tram stop platforms across the whole line are located on the right side of the carriage. However, Metropolitan Area Transport has investigated the technical location-based solution used by Tampere tram fleet. Still, there are no current plans to order it for trams, as the feature is linked with other functions.