Statistics Show More Than 50 People Are Killed by Trains Every Year - Report

The tragic death of Michelle Go, who was pushed to her death in New York, has raised concern over the safety of subway passengers in stations that don’t have gates preventing riders from entering or being pushed onto the tracks.

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority recorded nearly 50 deaths from trains over the last eight months, the New York Post reported on Saturday.

42 of them were caused by what the service calls “collisions” with trains, and another five incidents involved people who fell on the tracks or came into contact with the third one, which carries 625 volts of electricity.

The past year saw one less incident than the same period in 2020, the data showed, but the number of suicides has increased by 60 percent (16 incidents).

On 15 January a deranged homeless man shoved Michelle Go in front of a train at the Times Square station. After the deadly incident, officials led by Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine called for the MTA to push forward with subway platform gates, which open when trains arrive and close when they leave. Transport authorities said in turn that the station, as well as another 344 of the subway’s 472 stations, is too narrow for the gates.