Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 59 No. 2 (June 2022)
1Business Development for Platform Screen Door Systemwith Integrated Engineering, Comprehensive
Management Including Civil and Architectural Activities

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Tr a n s p o r t a t i o n a n d C o n s t r u c t i o nEngineering, Ltd.
Sales Department

Improving the safety of station platforms is an important issue for all passengers, and there
is an urgent need to expand the installation of platform doors in order to reduce the number ofaccidents on platforms in which passengers fall onto the track or are hit by a train, and theresulting train delays. In the first Basic Plan on Transport Policy approved by the Cabinet in 2015,
the government set a target of improving 800 stations by fiscal 2020, and has promoted theinstallation of platform doors through a policy of prioritizing stations with an average of 100,000
or more passengers per day by utilizing subsidies and other programs related to the installation ofplatform doors. In addition, the government has set a new barrier-free transportation target for
fiscal 2025, and continues to call for further introduction of platform doors and further
improvement in the safety of station platforms.
On the other hand, in order to install platform doors, it is necessary to investigate thestructural analysis of the existing platforms and to reinforce them according to the information
gathered, which is one of the challenges in expanding the installation of platform doors.
In July 2020, the Kobe City Transportation Bureau announced a comprehensive-evaluation
general competitive bidding for the "Project to install platform doors at 16 stations on theSeishin-yamate and Hokushin lines of the Kobe City Subway" including a diagnostic inspection ofplatform integrity and platform reinforcement work. In November of the same year, we, Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries Transportation and Construction Engineering, Ltd., which was formed in April
2020 through the merger of a civil engineering, construction, and plant engineering company anda transportation equipment design, manufacturing, and service company, were awarded a contract
for the project as a contractor capable of providing design, manufacturing, installation, andservicing of the platform door system collectively including civil engineering work.
The project is currently progressing steadily with the platform door system already in service
at some stations in advance, and scheduled to be fully completed in July 2023. The following
chapters describe an overview of the project.

|1. Overview of project to install platform doors
The Kobe City Subway, operated by the Kobe City Transportation Bureau, spans six wardsof Kobe City: Nishi, Suma, Nagata, Hyogo, Chuo, and Kita. Its total length is 38.1 km, consistingof the 22.7 km Seishin-yamate Line, the 7.5 km Hokushin Line, and the 7.9 km Kaigan Line. Thesubway service lines where the platform door system is installed this time are the Seishin-yamateLine between Seishin-chuo and Shin-Kobe stations, and the Hokushin Line between Shin-Kobeand Tanigami stations, 30.2 km in total, which will be installed at 16 stations (Total: Thirty-sevenplatforms, thus 666 openings) excluding Sannomiya Station (Figure 1).

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 59 No. 2 (June 2022)
2

Figure 1

Kobe City Subway Map

The installed platform door system is designed for 6 cars per a train-set on one platform,
which a train-set consists of three-doors. The platform door opening width is 2,800 mm and there
are 18 openings per one platform.
Figure 2 shows the platform doors installed on No.1 platform of Shin-Nagata Station.

Figure 2

Installation of platform doors on No.1 platform of Shin-Nagata Station

This project includes the installation of ramps (with a slope of 1/20 or less) that eliminate thedifference in height between the train car floor and platform, and comb-shaped rubber pieces at theedge of platforms that reduce the gap between the platform and the train car (Figure 3).

Figure 3

Installation of ramp and comb-shaped rubber

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 59 No. 2 (June 2022)
3Note: Sannomiya Station already has platform doors installed by another company in March
2018, and the platform door opening/closing has been controlled by a QR-code system
for this station since March 2020. However, this control opens the platform doors with adelay after the train doors open, resulting in longer passengers getting-on/off time. In thisproject, the control was updated to our "interlocking control relying solely on
platform-installed equipment" that is superior in the opening and closing response ofplatform doors. Figure 4 shows the detection sensors for the updated interlocking controlrelying solely on platform-installed equipment.

Figure 4 Installation of sensors for interlocking control relying solelyon platform-installed equipment at Sannomiya Station|2. Characteristics of this project
2.1

Our "One-Team Project Management System" in response to demands fromthe railway companies

Confirmation of the safety strength of platform floors, etc., required for installation ofplatform doors, structural calculations and other services in the case where reinforcement isrequired, and also field work management services for work sites are outsourced by the railwaycompany to a consulting company or general contractor.
We achieved agile responses and cost reductions by establishing our self-contained"One-Team Project Management System" including the platform door manufacturing business andthe civil engineering and construction business. One of the points that was highly evaluated in thecustomer's technical review was the shortening of the work period. This was a result of ourintegrated engineering capability achieved by our unique "One-Team Project ManagementSystem", which no other company has.
By assigning experienced civil engineering and construction designers to the project, weenhanced our credibility in civil engineering and construction. As a result, we received orders forplatform reinforcement and improvement work at Myohoji Station and Shin-Nagata Station, as
well as large-scale station building renovation work at Shin-Nagata Station in response to demands
from the customer.
Generally, platform door installation is accompanied by civil engineering and construction
work such as platform improvement. We will continue to respond to problems and demands
railway companies have by fully utilizing our "One-Team Project Management System," which isone of our strengths.

2.2

Adoption of new-type platform door system

We have been working to expand sales of platform door systems since the delivery of theconventional-type system to Nippori Station of Keisei Electric Railway Co., Ltd. in 2018. At thesame time, we have also renewed the system with a new-type platform door system based on theconcept of reducing initial and maintenance costs and simplifying future updates and have beenworking to ensure the quality through thorough verification by outdoor durability testing and othermeans (Figure 5).
This chapter describes the features of the new-type platform door system adopted for thisproject, which have been updated compared to the conventional type.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 59 No. 2 (June 2022)
4Figure 5

Illustration of new-type platform door system(1) Reduction of initial investment costs- While maintaining the safety concept of the conventional type in terms of the strengthand door structure, the weight is reduced by about 35% by simplifying the structure of
the platform door main body, which can simplify platform reinforcement work.
- The wiring is reduced by approximately 40%, which can simplify electrical wiring work.
- The foundation is reviewed, which can simplify civil engineering and construction work.
(2) Reduction of maintenance costs- The simplified structure leads to improving the maintainability.
- The configuration of the individual control panels is reviewed, which improves themaintainability.
- The operating status of each platform door is monitored, which prevents problems.

2.3

Adoption of interlocking control relying solely on platform-installed equipment

In the past, the opening and closing of doors was manually operated by station staff with avisual check. There was a problem that in some cases the opening and closing of doors was delayed
and the train stop time became longer than necessary. For the installation of platform door system,
the train doors and platform doors require to be interlocked, and the modification of train cars aswell as stations that do not have a train interlocking system is required.
Our interlocking control relying solely on platform-installed equipment can make theplatform doors and train doors interlocked indirectly without modifying the train cars and canquickly open and close platform doors. This interlocking control relies solely on platform-installedequipment.
The train presence detection sensors installed on the platform determine whether a train ispresent, the stop position detection sensors installed on the platform determine whether the train
stops within a predetermined range, and then the platform doors open. In addition, the train door
open/close detection sensors detect the open/close status of train doors that open and close
horizontally, and then the platform doors open and close accordingly in an interlocked manner.
We have delivered this interlocking control together with platform doors since the delivery to
Kokusai-tenjijo Station of the Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit Inc. in 2018. The interlocking
control is also adopted in this project. Figure 6 shows a configuration diagram of the interlocking
control relying solely on platform-installed equipment.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 59 No. 2 (June 2022)
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Figure 6 Configuration diagram of interlocking control relying solely on platform-installedequipment|4. Future development
We will develop our business of installing platform door systems at stations including civilengineering and construction work with our "One-Team Project Management System", which
utilizes the manufacturing technology and civil engineering and construction engineeringcapabilities that we have cultivated so far and contribute to further improving the safety of station
platforms.
We will develop platform door systems that meet the demands from railway companies byutilizing our strengths, such as the new-type platform door system with smaller weight and reduced
wiring, the interlocking control relying solely on platform-installed equipment, our unique"Dokodemo Door (Anywhere Door)" technology that can flexibly deal with various trains withdifferent numbers and positions of doors, the new multi-stage platform door system that can deal
with express trains, and the new construction method incorporating civil engineering technology toinstall platform doors on a station platform constructed with an embankment.
Lastly, our platform door system business will realize, in the field of transportation, the MHIGroup's mission “to solve social issues and make contributions with our technology and know-how
and to provide a safe, secure, and comfortable environment and living infrastructure for societies inwhich people around the world live.”
We will successfully complete the "Project to install platform doors at 16 stations on theSeishin-yamate and Hokushin lines of the Kobe City Subway" by ensuring safety and quality andstrictly adhering to the project schedule, and realize more achievements in the future. Throughdoing so, we intend to develop our business in the field of “transportation and construction” withutilization of our comprehensive engineering capabilities to contribute to society.