Train Suicides Reduced by Blue Lighting

When it comes to suicide prevention, train crossings present a challenge. Fior that reason, suicide prevention advocates are following developments in Japan with interest. The country could become a model for the rest of the world in preventing train suicides.

One attempted solution is “grade separation,” whereby the tracks in some areas are raised to eliminate dangerous street-level crossings. Another is to install “Z-gates,” which require pedestrians to weave through chain-link fencing to access train tracks. A third solution, for subway trains, is clear, sliding doors that close whenever trains are out of the station and open only when a train arrives.

Among the more whimsical solutions is putting airbags on the front of locomotives. Instead of cowcatchers that push cattle away and prevent a train from derailing, the bags deploy as soon as they come into contact with an object, such as a human body, cushioning the impact.

Another strategy that has shown some promise is the placement of mood lighting, as has been done in Japanese train stations. In 2009 the East Japan Railway Company acted after suicides on the railway’s lines increased from 42 in 2007 to 68 in 2009. The company installed special blue lights above platforms in all 29 stations on the Yamanote Line.[1] Blue is considered a calming color, associated with the sky and sea, and the lights were tried in an effort to soothe anyone who might be distressed.

Hanging at the end of each platform, which typically is the most isolated and least trafficked area, and where people are most likely to throw themselves in front of a speeding train, the lights are brighter than standard fluorescent bulbs and bathe the platforms in blue. Researchers at the University of Tokyo saw suicide attempts decrease by 84 percent over a 10-year period at stations where the lights were in place.[2]

Adding to the argument in favor of the mood lighting is a study in which other researchers found that suicides on Japanese railways increased after several days of bad weather. Scientists at the Shiga University of Medical Science analyzed 971 suicides and suicide attempts and found that a high proportion of them occurred after a series of cloudy and rainy days.

“Light exposure (blue light or bright white light) in trains may be useful in reducing railway suicides, especially when consecutive days without sunshine are forecasted,” the study concluded.[3]

Installing blue lights is relatively cheap. East Japan Railway spent $165,000 for the special lights on the Yamamote Line[4].

Japan’s commitment to reducing suicides doesn’t end there. Gates and chest-high suicide barriers are in place at many rail stations in Japan, and plans are moving forward to install them in each Tokyo station by 2032. The projected cost is high—$4.7 billion—largely because Tokyo has 243 train stations and the barriers are expensive, but also because some stations require modifications due to lack the platform space or structural strength.[5]

Suicides at the stations also have a significant financial cost, however—delaying trains and disrupting the schedules of tens of thousands of commuters and other travelers.