SMRT apologises for ‘human tetris’ jam at Lakeside MRT platform
[UPDATED on Friday, 24 Oct at 9:15am: Adding response from SMRT]
Train operator SMRT apologised on Thursday for the jam at its Lakeside MRT station after a video of passengers crashing against one another at the top of an escalator went viral.
In a statement, Patrick Nathan, SMRT vice president for corporate information and communications, said the escalator was stopped shortly after station staff prevented more commuters from getting onto it.
"We also temporarily reduced the flow of commuters into Lakeside station by closing four of the six fare gates leading into the station. We apologise for any inconvenience this incident this has caused our commuters," he said.
He added that station staff are trained to manage crowding at platforms, and were deployed not only to stop more commuters from using the escalator but also to disperse and manage the commuters at the platform.
The 36-second video titled "Human Tetris on MRT Platform" and posted by Facebook user Joel Rasis on Tuesday shows commuters arriving at the platform of Lakeside MRT station from an up-riding escalator, but because the area appears to be full, they promptly end up sandwiched between one another.
This goes on continuously for at least 25 seconds before the camera pans down to the ticket concourse level, where staff appear to have just stopped commuters from stepping onto the escalator.
A report on the incident in citizen journalism portal STOMP quoted Rasis as saying there was a train fault affecting eastbound service at about 7:40am on Tuesday.
“What happened was commuters were instructed to get off the train, and at the very same time, a new batch of commuters were heading to the platform on the escalator,” he reportedly said. “There was basically no more space on the platform,” he added, noting that the next train toward Pasir Ris only arrived about 20 minutes later.
Watch the video here:
