SMRT Train Moves 200m With Door Ajar; Staff Responsible “Suspended”

SMRT Train Travelled For 200 Metres With A Door Opened

Does this sign look familiar to you?

Source

It should be, especially if you travel frequently on the MRT.

Despite seeing the sign on a daily basis, many of us continue leaning on the cabin doors for comfort.  

But if you need more reasons why you shouldn’t do so, these videos may very well do the trick.

On Monday (11 Mar), 2 viral videos of an MRT train leaving Ang Mo Kio (AMK) station with its door open made rounds on social media.

A netizen uploaded one video on Twitter.

Here’s another one that was shared on Reddit.

MRT commuters remained calm

In the first video, an MRT jam-packed with commuters can be seen moving with the door left ajar.

Source

Despite being mere centimetres from the open door, passengers in the cabin were strangely calm.

Source

Most of them were fiddling with their phones as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

In the second video, an SMRT staff can be seen standing on the edge of the cabin with his arms open, presumably to prevent any commuters from falling off.

Source

Station manager “suspended”

The next day, SMRT released a press statement addressing the viral videos.

SMRT revealed that the incident happened on a northbound train departing from AMK station at 7.30pm on Monday.

The train had travelled with its door ajar for roughly 200 metres before returning to AMK station, where commuters alighted.

According to SMRT’s preliminary investigations, an SMRT manager made the mistake of allowing the train to move off while a door was still open.

He was attempting to fix a train door fault when the incident happened.

The station manager has since been suspended, and the train on which the incident happened has been removed from service.

Do not lean on train doors

On hindsight, perhaps the all-too-familiar sign does serve a purpose after all — to keep MRT commuters safe.

So the next time you feel like falling asleep on the cold metal doors of the MRT, do think twice.

We hope incidents like this will never occur again as things can easily turn fatal, next time when things are not as lucky.

Featured image from Twitter and Reddit.