Upgrade of Subway Doors

More than 100 emergency exit hatches across the MTA’s subway system will be fitted with new springs to decrease the amount of force needed to open the heavy doors during an evacuation, authorities said.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said that if an emergency such as a fire, crash or terrorist attack were to occur on the 17-mile Red Line, some passengers might not be strong enough to push the steel doors open and climb to the street.

Many of the springs and hinges on the 120 doors have eroded over time, causing some not to work as they should, officials said.

“This has become a major concern,” said John Catoe, deputy chief executive of the MTA, who has started a review of the agency’s safety and security practices, including procedures for protecting the Red Line’s 16 stations from terrorist attack.

Catoe said the springs, along with air-pressurized canisters that will help power the doors as they open, will cost about $600,000.

He said the changes will ensure that the doors open with just 30 pounds of pressure.

The doors are the final step in an elaborate system of emergency corridors, including passageways that catacomb behind the public areas of the MTA’s subways.