HART to install safety gates at 21 rail stations

The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) has approved plans to install platform safety gates at 21 rail stations at a cost of $27 million.

The agency has selected Stanley Access Technologies to provide the platform gates, which will be installed as a safety measure to reduce the risk of riders or objects from falling off a boarding platform onto tracks, HART officials said in their weekly news email.

The sliding gates will be installed across the full length of boarding platforms and will open only when train doors open so riders can safely board and exit trains, they said.

The gates, to be made of laminated safety glass, will be manufactured at Stanley's plant in Farmington, Conn. Automatic Door Specialists of Waipahu, Hawaii, will install and service them.

HART is building a 20-mile elevated passenger-rail line that will connect Oahu with downtown Honolulu and the Ala Moana Center.