Metrolinx is considering installing platform edge barriers and designated passenger loading zones at Union Station after a GO commuter walking along a narrow section of platform there was killed last spring.

The measures are among 16 safety and crowd-control measures recommended in the Union Station Platform Action Plan, posted on the Metrolinx website Monday.

It was written in response to the death of RBC employee Daniel Panacci, 31, who was dragged beneath a departing rush-hour train near a narrow passage beside an elevator on platform 11 of Canada’s busiest transit hub.

The horrifying incident was witnessed by many GO customers and has raised questions about the safety and crowding on Union Station platforms.

“We believe (the platforms) are safe but they can always be safer. Things can always be improved,” said Metrolinx spokeswoman Anne Marie Aikins.

GO has posted no-standing zone signs where platforms are too narrow for two people to stand abreast without someone getting forced into the yellow strip at the edge of the train platforms. Many of the recommendations focus on making sure GO riders stay behind those yellow safety strips.

The action plan is the result of a safety audit of Union Station by provincial and federal rail officials and the American Public Transit Association, she said. It was given to Panacci’s family last month but his parents would not comment on Monday.

Some of the recommendations, such as minor platform modifications and safety campaigns, are already complete or underway. Others will take more time, said Aikins.

The Union Station conditions are complicated by the building’s heritage status that limits the modifications that can be made to the platforms and some other areas. But Metrolinx will talk to Parks Canada this year about easing some of the restrictions, she said.

But with 250,000 GO riders travelling through Union Station each day and GO expecting to electrify and add 50 per cent more service in the next five years, bigger numbers of embarking and departing riders could pose a challenge.

“We need additional crowd control strategies as we roll out regional express rail,” said Aikins, adding that GO can’t install platform edge doors such as those on the Union Pearson Express platforms.

She said, however, that “there are different kinds of platform barriers and we’re going to study a variety of different kinds.” Some are simply metal bars or barriers that cut off access to certain areas.

Recommendations for improving safety at Union Station

Prohibit the storage of construction materials and tools on platforms.

Prop platform doors open during good weather to reduce bottlenecks at doorways.

When the perforated yellow, plastic safety strips are removed from the platforms during renovations, the strips must be painted on temporarily.

The yellow safety strips can no longer be included in measurements of usable platform space.

Increased and enhanced safety messages, including the risks of customers who are distracted by their phones while walking; running on platforms and forcing doors.

Increased safety enforcement by GO and station staff.

Make sure the wheelchair and accessibility ramps never open in no-standing doors.

Upgrade older train doors so passengers can move more easily between the coaches.

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Improved CCTV and public announcement systems in Union Station. This is already being done as part of the station renovations.

Consider other measures such as textured materials, colours, alarms or lights along platform edges that would be activated when trains enter or leave the station.

Metrolinx

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