InnoTrans 2024: Reducing accidents in the boarding area

Strong public transport as the basis for sustainable mobility and liveable cities: politicians and urban planners around the world are pursuing this vision, sometimes with high levels of investment. Whether these investments flow into improved infrastructure or the use of modern vehicles and intelligent vehicle technology, an agenda that ensures availability, safety and sustainability in the mobility sector is already mandatory for many municipalities.

At the same time, both the dense frequency of busy regular services and the use of autonomous shuttles involve risks that are reflected in accident reports and statistics. The most frequent causes of accidents in the entry and exit area of buses and trains are caused by passengers becoming trapped or being dragged along by automatically controlled doors.

To counter these trapping hazards, many operators and well-known vehicle manufacturers have been using safety systems from Mayser for a long time. These door safety systems react to even very small objects that block the closing movement of the door, stop the dangerous movement and release the door again before any damage occurs.

Non-contact protection with MY Non-Touch Detection

At InnoTrans, Mayser is focusing on contactless detection with the MY Non-Touch Detection System. The system works on the basis of capacitive sensors, which are inserted into finger protection profiles on the closing edge of the door and supplement the tactile sensor technology for reliable protection against being bumped, trapped or dragged along. If a passenger or object is in the immediate danger zone, the sensor anticipates possible contact with the door and stops its movement immediately to prevent possible collisions and resulting accidents. In this way, the system also helps to keep cycle times stable.

Another advantage of the non-touch detection system is that it only reacts to conductive objects in the direct danger zone. Environmental influences such as snow, rain or leaves blowing in therefore do not trigger false detections that lead to delays in cycle times. The capacitive system can be individually adapted to a wide variety of door systems and can also be retrofitted with minimal installation effort.

Additional safety is provided by safety steps with extension protection, which bridge the gaps between the vehicle and platform, prevent waiting passengers from being knocked over and also stop retracting as soon as passengers step onto them. Safety sensors from Mayser are an important aspect in the protection of bus and train doors in order to fulfill the normative requirements and to increase passenger comfort.