JAPAN: Platform edge doors designed to accommodate multiple types of rolling stock with varying numbers of doors and locations on the car side are being tested by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Transportation Equipment Engineering & Service Co.
The design is branded Dokodemo Door (‘Anywhere Door’), after a magical door which is used by a time-travelling robotic cat from the 22nd century in a manga series.
As well as offering greater flexibility, Dokodemo Door is intended to offer lower lifecycle costs than previous designs, with lighter doors and a shorter installation time. The use of telescopic doors with narrow pockets permits wider door openings. Sensors detect people or belongings obstructing the doors, broadcasting warning a message and preventing opening or closing. LEDs in the casings project warning messages onto the doors’ reinforced glass.
Dokodemo Door is being developed with assistance from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport & Tourism’s Railway Development Fund. According to MLIT, 593 of the 9 500 railway and monorail stations in Japan already have platform doors, and in February the government backed plans for this number to be increased to 800 by 2020.
