TORONTO — The rush-hour train is packed full of people, but the commuters don’t feel cramped.

Passengers are moving freely from car to car without having to pull a heavy door, risk getting a ticket — or fall to their doom if the train takes a turn too sharply.

Other riders are using digital screens to get everything from transit updates to the temperature outside.

Toronto’s subway system is one of the first in the world to incorporate open “gangway” trains — which have accordion connectors between each car — into the system, and virtually all of its riders call it a major step up.

Similar trains are coming to New York, officials have announced.

While their exact arrival date is unknown, The Post recently rode the rails with commuters in Canada’s largest city to give New Yorkers a sneak preview.

“It feels safer because there are more people around and you are not sectioned off,” said straphanger Rayna Slobodian, 39.

The most important feature, said Slobodian, is that “you can get away if you need to” in case of an emergency.

Rider Alison Pierce, 32, added, “I feel so much safer on these trains. Luckily, I’ve never had to call for an emergency.”

Toronto is the third-largest subway system in North America in terms of ridership — after New York City and Mexico City — and by many measures, the Toronto Transit Commission is ahead of the curve.

The TTC brought in the open-gangway trains four years ago. The design creates about 10 percent more capacity per car, which allows for more commuters while keeping them out of each other’s faces.

“It’s been so much cooler and nicer since we got the new trains,” said rider Una Garry. “Everyone isn’t cramped and sweaty now.”

Along with the informative screens, the trains also have cameras that are always running and emergency push strips that riders can reach from every seat.

The TTC is also ahead of the MTA in ways beyond just the trains.

It will have a tap-card system installed by the end of the year, and the stations have screens that show subway wait times before customers decide whether to enter.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and MTA officials first announced their grand plans for the New York City transit system last year.

In December, the agency said it would spend $52.4 million to buy 10 open gangway trains and test them on the system.

Last month, officials decided to buy 750 of the cars — enough for about 75 trains — out of a batch of 1,250 new cars they want to add to the fleet.

The improvements will include doors that are 16 percent wider, growing to 58 inches to account for riders who obstruct the entry points.

“According to a computer simulation of passenger flow conducted on behalf of the MTA, in crowded scenarios, wider doors can reduce a train’s dwell time in the station by 32 percent,” said MTA spokeswoman Beth DeFalco.

“There will also be a wider space on either side of the subway car doors — 12 inches. That will enable some customers to be close to the door, but still step aside so other customers enter and exit that car.”

The MTA put out requests for proposals last month, so it will likely take a while before the cars make it to the system.

Officials declined to say exactly when the articulated trains would be up and running — and which lines would get them.

“The governor has made a speed a priority, and the speed of design and delivery will be critical factors when it comes to awarding the contract,” said DeFalco.

Cuomo also announced that cameras would be added to all new buses and subways. But as with the accordion gangway cars, the agency won’t say exactly when they will be a part of the system. Same for the digital displays.

New York transit sources caution that Toronto is a totally different animal from the Big Apple.

The TTC, which only includes the municipal subway and bus system, has a 10-year capital plan of $9 billion, much smaller than the MTA’s current $27 billion, five-year capital budget.

But that money is also stretched over commuter rail lines like Metro-North and the LIRR.

The Toronto subway also has only 69 stations compared to New York City’s 469.

Crime is also less of a problem in New York’s northern neighbor — though transit officials there said the open plan makes their trains even safer.

“With open concepts, you’re free to walk away to the other end on a train versus being trapped on a single car with a perpetrator,” said TTC spokesman Brad Ross.

“We have emergency alarms, intercoms and CCTV on all new trains, in addition to two employees per train — a driver and door guard. Safety and security has never been a concern with open gangways here in Toronto.”

Of course, there are plenty of reasons why some New Yorkers might want to keep doors closed between the cars.

“So nowhere to escape from the train performers? I will not be able to get off at the next stop and go back to the car they already played in?” asked Antonio Monroy, 40, an electrician from Sunnyside, Queens.

“Sounds like a new kind of torture.”

Jose Luis Aspiazu, 69, who also lives in the neighborhood, had a bigger fear.

“Makes it easier for terrorists to kill everyone on the train,” he said. “They just get on and go from front to back. Nowhere to hide.”

Mike Murphy, 57, a teacher at Queens College, was more positive.

“I think it’ll be good because it might alleviate some of the crowdedness. That’s the biggest problem now for me,” he said.

“You can barely get in or out of the trains. People are yelling at each other, ‘Wait for the next one!’ ”

The TTC spokesman said the best advice for New York’s transit officials is to just take their time and do it right.

“It’s incredibly time-consuming to make these changes,” he said. “If you try to rush these things, you get them wrong.”



Additional reporting by Kevin Sheehan and Natalie Musumeci