There was concern over overcrowding on the Circle Line MRT after a photo of a congested platform at Serangoon station was posted online on Thursday (Nov 10).
“I experienced a near crowd stampede situation at 8:37 am at Serangoon Circle Line MRT station. I was coming down the escalator while the platform was completely full of people. I shouted, “turn off the escalator”. A few people started to shout with me. Fortunately, nobody fell down,” wrote a netizen on the Singapore subreddit.
He attached a photo of the train platform, showing the congestion as commuters descended on the escalators.
The netizen admitted that the crowd density wasn’t at the “level of a stampede” yet, but he noted being so close to the people around him that they were “touching” and “pushing slightly”.
Members of the online community reacted with concern over overcrowding on the Circle Line MRT platform at Serangoon station. They wondered why there were no station staff controlling the foot traffic and preventing more commuters from entering the platform until the congestion eased.
Another netizen claiming to be a station staff shed more light on the incident. “From what I heard from my Transit Security Officers (TSOs), somebody pressed the Emergency Stop Plunger (ESP), causing this”.
“Yes, we should have acted quicker, and we witness all sorts of funny situations at our station, but no one would’ve expected this and reacted in time,” said the station staff, thanking the commuters who shouted to stop the escalators.
SMRT confirmed the incident in a Facebook post on Thursday night. It attributed the overcrowding to an incident at another Circle Line MRT station. “At around 8:30 am, a commuter who wanted to help a fellow commuter who was unwell activated the Emergency Stop Plunger at the platform of Bartley station,” said SMRT.
“Our station staff immediately responded to the activation and attended to the unwell commuter at the platform.”
As the incident occurred during the morning peak period, nearby interchange stations along the Circle Line experienced crowding at the platforms, SMRT said.
“If any commuter wishes to alert our staff to an incident on the platform without stopping the train service, kindly approach our staff at the Passenger Service Centre located at the Concourse level of each station,” SMRT added.
Netizens responded to SMRT’s post, suggesting installing a call button at the platform for commuters to quickly alert staff instead of wasting time going up to the control station. “This will also prevent future re-occurrence,” said Facebook user Fong Gavin.
“How about installing a phone to speak to your staff in the Passenger Service Centre directly,” suggested Facebook user Kok Chwee Sim. /TISG