Unrestricted access to the track edge makes rail an immediately available lethal means
#00146
Open, unfenced access to the track edge at stations and along the line makes rail an immediately available, highly lethal suicide method — dangerous especially during short-lived impulsive crises, which account for roughly a third of attempts.
#00151Install full-height platform screen doors to seal the track edge
Install full-height platform screen doors (PSDs) — floor-to-ceiling barriers with sliding doors aligned to train doors — to physically seal the platform edge and eliminate track access at stations. This intervention has the strongest evidence of any rail-suicide measure.
#00152Install half-height platform barriers where full-height is infeasible
Install half-height automatic platform gates (1.2–1.5 m) where full-height screen doors are too costly or structurally infeasible, reducing platform suicides substantially—though less than full-height, since the barriers can be climbed.
#00153Fence and restrict trackside access at identified black-spots
Systematically identify recurring trackside black-spots and install fencing, mid-track barriers, and access restrictions at those locations — accepting a documented risk of displacement to nearby unfenced sites.
#00155Install blue LED lighting on platforms as a low-cost calming measure
Install blue LED lighting on platforms as a low-cost, easily retrofitted calming/deterrent measure aimed at reducing suicides — an approach with large but heavily contested effect estimates that should not be treated as equivalent to physical barriers.
#00154Build drainage/gap pits under platform tracks to reduce attempt lethality
Construct recessed 'suicide pits' in the trackbed below platform level, giving a person on the track survivable space beneath a passing train. Reduces fatality of attempts without deterring them — a lethality-mitigation complement to other prevention measures.