Photo/Illutration A cane for visually impaired people (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Train stations are often likened to a "bridge without a guardrail" for people with a visual impairment.

How scary it must be to rely only on your cane to cross such a dangerous bridge. And if the station has many trains stopping there, that must make it far more dangerous than any bridge without a guardrail.

The latest tragedy occurred on Nov. 29 at a subway station in Tokyo.

A visually impaired man fell off the platform and was killed by an incoming train.

The station was already outfitted with new automatic platform gates, which were supposed to start operating three months later.

Many railway companies are now building and putting in such gates to protect passengers from falling onto the tracks. But nationwide, the project is still only halfway complete. And ultimately, even such safety devices cannot be fully relied on to prevent tragedies.

Being a regular train rider myself, news of any major accident always makes me wonder what I would've done if I'd been there.

When two men died trying to save someone who'd fallen off the platform at Tokyo's Shin-Okubo Station, I felt I wouldn't have had the courage.

But if I saw someone walking with a white cane, would I keep an eye on the person? Would I approach them and ask if there was anything I could do?

Train stations unattended by railway workers are growing in number around the nation, and the challenge of improving the user-friendliness of train service for everyone is increasing in importance.

Disabled author Hirotada Ototake once recounted his experiences in London to The Asahi Shimbun.

At stations without an elevator, Ototake recalled, Londoners were ever ready to come to his assistance. 

"For them, helping a person in a wheelchair in need seemed to be no different from picking up a purse someone dropped and running after the person to give it back," he said.

Even if the station is teeming with people, it instantly becomes an "unattended station" if nobody pays attention to someone in need.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 1

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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