NEW YORK (WPIX) – The Metropolitan Transit Authority in New York City is testing a new physical deterrent aimed at stopping subway surfing.
One of the city’s busiest subway routes, the No. 7 line, now has experimental barriers in select cars. The rectangular barricades are installed on subway exteriors above the doors between the cars themselves. This placement is designed to prevent people from being able to climb to the roof of the trains from between the subway cars, according to the MTA.
The agency began testing the deterrent in January with a prototype design, then made tweaks to meet city transit standards.
The MTA estimates that installation on the entire No. 7 line will be completed in 2026 at a projected cost of $10 million. The MTA will then consider installing the barriers on trains along the J and No. 6 lines.
The MTA’s latest push to combat subway surfing comes after at least five people have died subway surfing in 2025, according to the NYPD. The most recent incident involved two girls, ages 12 and 13, who died at the Marcy Avenue-Broadway station in Brooklyn earlier this month.
The MTA has also ramped up a public safety awareness push aimed at young people to address subway surfing, including its “Ride Inside, Stay Alive” campaign starring BMX pro athlete and Queens native Nigel Sylvester.
MTA CEO and chairman Janno Lieber also said the agency is taking its fight online by putting the heat on social media companies to remove videos of subway surfing.
Source: Fox 8 News Channel