The Almaty metro has begun installing barriers to protect passengers from falling into the space between carriages. As reported by the metro administration, only metal supports are ready now. According to the project, they will later be supplemented with partitions made of shatterproof glass. The work is planned to be completed in the coming week.

Photo: Mikhail Onoshenko / The Village Kazakhstan

Let us recall that on December 10, 2024, a blind man died in the Almaty metro: he confused the space between the cars with the entrance to the train and fell onto the rails. After this, Akim Yerbolat Dosayev promised to install barriers in the subway.

The Price of Security and Criticism of Almaty Residents

Some media outlets write that the Almaty Akimat allocated 14 million tenge for the installation of metal supports: officials have not yet officially commented on this data. We checked the government procurement website and indeed found a lot for the installation of barriers with a sum of 14,149,329 tenge. However, the bidding for it has not yet been completed, and there are no applications from contractors at all.

As reported by the metro, there will be 66 barrier supports in total (there are 11 stations in Almaty, which means 6 will be installed at each station — editor's note ), they are going to be installed at all stations and later equipped with glass. It is assumed that the space between the carriages will be fenced after the train stops.

Meanwhile, footage taken at the Saryarka and Raimbek Batyr stations has already appeared on social networks – there the train stopped in such a way that all three metal supports covered the carriage itself instead of the space between the carriages. This caused ridicule and criticism from commentators.

How did the Almaty metro react to criticism?

The director of the municipal enterprise, Almasbek Orynbekov, said that residents captured "part of the test process." He explained that the new metro stations will already have automated platform fences, and the partitions being installed are a temporary measure to ensure safety. The director is quoted by Vlast.

"When designing the existing stations, the installation of platforms with sliding automatic doors was not provided for in the regulatory documents governing the construction of metro facilities. Changes were made to these documents only in 2022," Orynbekov explained.

He added that a "systematic approach" is needed to ensure passenger safety. "Therefore, platform partitions are already provided for at stations under construction and design. This is a temporary solution aimed at increasing passenger safety until permanent platform doors (screen doors) are installed," the official noted.

According to the director of the metro, the partitions are installed at the expense of the metro's operating costs, without the use of budget funds.

At the same time, Orynbekov stated that the process of installing automated platform fences takes a significant amount of time, since it requires design, feasibility study, financing, and the implementation of the state procurement procedure. Therefore, as a temporary measure for the safety of passengers, temporary metal partitions are installed between the cars.

"When the train stopped, one of the partitions was displaced relative to the inter-car space. This episode is part of the testing process. Such situations are carefully analyzed. The work process does not stop – engineers synchronize installation work with multi-stage checks to ensure the system's operation," Orynbekov concluded.

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