Business Development for Platform Screen Door System with Integrated Engineering, Comprehensive Management Including Civil and Architectural Activities
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Transportation and Construction Engineering, Ltd. Sales Department
Improving the safety of station platforms is an important issue for all passengers, and there is an urgent need to expand the installation of platform doors in order to reduce the number of accidents on platforms in which passengers fall onto the track or are hit by a train, and the resulting train delays. In the first Basic Plan on Transport Policy approved by the Cabinet in 2015, the government set a target of improving 800 stations by fiscal 2020, and has promoted the installation of platform doors through a policy of prioritizing stations with an average of 100,000 or more passengers per day by utilizing subsidies and other programs related to the installation of platform doors. In addition, the government has set a new barrier-free transportation target for fiscal 2025, and continues to call for further introduction of platform doors and further improvement in the safety of station platforms.
On the other hand, in order to install platform doors, it is necessary to investigate the structural analysis of the existing platforms and to reinforce them according to the information gathered, which is one of the challenges in expanding the installation of platform doors.
In July 2020, the Kobe City Transportation Bureau announced a comprehensive-evaluation general competitive bidding for the "Project to install platform doors at 16 stations on the Seishin-yamate and Hokushin lines of the Kobe City Subway" including a diagnostic inspection of platform integrity and platform reinforcement work. In November of the same year, we, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Transportation and Construction Engineering, Ltd., which was formed in April 2020 through the merger of a civil engineering, construction, and plant engineering company and a transportation equipment design, manufacturing, and service company, were awarded a contract for the project as a contractor capable of providing design, manufacturing, installation, and servicing of the platform door system collectively including civil engineering work.
The project is currently progressing steadily with the platform door system already in service at some stations in advance, and scheduled to be fully completed in July 2023. The following chapters describe an overview of the project.
