A pilot study evaluating the preventive effects of platform-end lengthwise fencing on trespassing, person struck by train and traffic delays.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Trespassing at train tracks and "person under train" (PUT) incidents are serious health, societal and transportation concerns. There is a need for developing different measures to prevent these events. Here, we hypothesized that platform-end lengthwise fences (PLF) reduce trespassing, the number of PUT incidents (suicides and accidents), and train traffic delays. METHOD: PLFs were installed as the intervention at one station in Stockholm in 2020. The number of trespassers detected using CCTV-cameras was compared before and after at the intervention station over a total period of 29 months (using incidence rate ratio, IRR). The reduction in the number of PUT (over 20 years) and train traffic delays (over 9 years) was also investigated by IRR, and by using three control groups. RESULTS: After installation of PLF there was a significant ∼90% reduction in trespasses (IRR = 0.10, 95%CI 0.04-0.23; one-sided exact p < 0.0001). No PUT incident occurred at the intervention station after the installation, compared to 1.11 per year before installation (IRR = 0.32, 95%CI 0-1.82; one-sided exact p = 0.1216). There was a significant reduction in delay minutes post installation compared to before the installation (Mann Whitney U = 0, upper one-sided exact p = 0.0357). The effect of the PLF was also observable in comparison to the three control groups, suggesting that the preventive effect was not due to wider societal events affecting all stations. CONCLUSION: PLF had a large effect on reducing the number of trespasses and the number of delay minutes due to trespasses and PUT incidents. PLF may also have an effect of reducing PUT incidents. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS PLF is deemed to be relatively easy and cheap to install and thus scalable (as compared to full barriers, e.g., platform screen doors) and may be considered at platform-ends having an exit, provided there is enough space to install them.