PUBLISHED ONNovember 11, 2022 8:25 AMByClaudia TanA photo of a crowded platform at Serangoon MRT station was posted online on Thursday (Nov 10) by a concerned commuter worried about a possible stampede.
Taking to Reddit to voice his concerns, the user, who goes by WuyongZheng titled the post "Near stampede situation" with the photo showing throngs of commuters waiting for the train that morning.
In a Facebook post on Thursday night, SMRT said that a commuter activated the emergency stop plunger at Bartley station that morning to help a fellow commuter who was unwell.
Unfortunately, the commuter's act resulted in a temporary shortage of train service, one that led to crowding at the platforms of nearby interchange stations during the morning peak period.
[embed]https://www.facebook.com/SMRTCorpSG/photos/a.567671666587400/5858185404202640/?type=3[/embed]
The company shared that while station staff attended to the unwell commuter, others were deployed to control the flow of commuters from the upper concourse level to the platform level to prevent overcrowding.
"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."
Unfortunately, Wuyongzheng's sentiments didn't quite resonate with other Redditors, who described it simply as "a regular Thursday in Singapore".
"Understand your concerns but this is not a stampede," said another user.
Interestingly, one Redditor, who seems to be an SMRT staff responded to that thread, providing some insights about what was happening on the ground that morning.
"From what I heard...somebody pressed the emergency stop plunger," he explained. "Yes, we should have acted quicker...but no one would've expected this and reacted in time."
In 2021, a man was charged in court for causing a public nuisance after pressing the emergency stop plunger in a bid to retrieve his phone that slipped into the MRT train tracks.
His act stopped a train at Buona Vista MRT station for two minutes.
Clement Joshua Tan Teck Kim had dropped his phone on the tracks as he was boarding a train from Buona Vista MRT station.
When he approached the staff for help, he was told that they could only retrieve his phone the next day as train services could not be disrupted.
However, Tan insisted that SMRT staff stop train services, saying he needed his phone urgently as his baby had a fever and he had to speak to his girlfriend.
Despite being told it wasn't an emergency, Tan pushed the plunger anyway.
He also pushed an SMRT assistant manager and punched a security officer who tried to stop him from leaving the station.
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claudiatan@asiaone.com