There are roughly 135 mass transit subway systems in operation around the world today. Unfortunately some people will choose to try and end their lives today by jumping in front of a subway train. Up to 5% of all suicides attempts are by this method.

Suicides by subway differ from suicides by train. People wishing to commit suicide by train will often wait on train tracks for long periods of time. People wishing to commit suicide by subway will most often just jump right in front of an oncoming subway as it approaches a station.

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People will attempt to commit suicide by subway in three different ways. By leaping in front of an oncoming subway train as it approaches a platform. By wandering down subway tracks and waiting for a subway train to approach. And by touching the electrified third rail which contains enough electricity to instantly kill someone (pictured here as the rail furthest out and protected by a white canopy).

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As was demonstrated on an episode of the TV show, Myth Busters, the urban myth that you can electrify yourself by urinating on the third rail is not true unless you are right on top of the rail which is not practical.

Suicide by subway impacts drivers of the subways and many users of the subways as subway suicide attempts most often take place right on platforms people use to enter and exit subway cars. So many users of subways will witness subway suicide attempts and be traumatized from what they see.

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Since the vast majority of subway suicide attempts take place on or right by platforms the success rate for subway suicides is low. Nearly 67% of all subway suicide attempts fail because subways are greatly slowing their speeds as they approach platforms where the vast majority of subway suicide attempts take place. Ironically when survivors are interviewed most say they tried to kill themselves by subway because they believed it had a very high success rate.

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Generally people who attempt suicide by subway have thought about it for a long time before their attempts. It is rarely an impulse for someone to just jump in front of a subway. They generally plan it out well in advance, carefully choosing which subway station and what time of day. Most often subway suicides are attempted by people living close to subways and incidents are much higher at stations near mental health facilities.

Media reports of suicide by subway tend to increase the number of attempts so many cities now ask the media not to report such incidents and in cities like Montreal this appears to be effective in preventing copycats or rashes of incidents. This has also been shown to be true for serial killers. The media does a disservice when it constantly focuses on such behaviors. Generally, copycats are mentally ill people very susceptible to images they constantly see on TV.

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Other attempts to decrease or stop subway suicides include the installation of plastic screens so the only access to the subway cars is through the doors when they open and having subway trains dramatically slow their speeds as they near platforms.

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Most people attempting suicide by subway are single at the time and live alone. Men are twice as likely as women to attempt a subway suicide.   

When I first started researching this article I wondered about people slipping, being jostled or even pushed into the path of an oncoming subway train and if any of them could be mistaken for suicide attempts. All records indicate this is not the case. Subway accidents are exceedingly rare, almost all subway suicide attempts have many witnesses and the vast majority (67%) of people attempting to end their life this way fail and then can give their story.

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For more see Most Popular Suicide Methods: Trains. To see the most popular public places where people commit suicide see Most Popular Suicide Sites.