Netizen Wu Yong Zheng shared a photo of an overcrowded MRT platform at Serangoon MRT, calling it a “near stampede situation.”
Commuters were seen tightly packed with each other as they waited for the trains to come, with more commuters arriving via the escalator.
Wu said “I experienced a near crowd stampede situation 8:37am 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 fall down.”
Netizens’ comments
- I used to live near Serangoon. And I always hated travelling via MRT around peak hours. Its consistently busy
- I was there at 8:45 ish. My train was stopped between Bishan and Lorong Chuan with an announcement that says due to congestion ahead there will be some delay and the train stopped for a minute. When I arrived at Serangoon Station it was perfectly normal. I didn’t even know this occurred until I read this post.
It was solved in minutes. Kudos to the team managing it - Before anyone starts jumping to conclusions, please, you don’t know the station, CC13 Serangoon (CSER) better than I do.
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. This is why we need commuters to also help us along, and I thank those who shouted “Stop the escalators!”.
I arrived at CSER at 0839H so I didn’t see or hear the commotion for myself but what I saw afterwards was normal.
If any of you have any feedback for my station, please do let me know. What we can do within our means, we will definitely try to do and what we can’t, we’ll likewise let those who are able to, to help us do so.
Thank you and I look forward to CSERving all of you.
SMRT’s statement
Some of you may have read about this morning’s incident online :
At around 8.30am on 10 Nov, a commuter, who wanted to help a fellow commuter who was unwell, activated the Emergency Stop Plunger at the platform of Bartley station on the Circle Line, towards Marina Bay station. This caused the train service to stop.
Our station staff immediately responded to the activation and attended to the unwell commuter at the platform. Subsequently, he felt better and declined medical attention before leaving the station on his own.
Train services (towards Marina Bay) resumed after about five minutes.
As the incident occurred during the morning peak period, nearby interchange stations along the Circle Line experienced crowding at the platforms. Station staff controlled the flow of commuters from the upper concourse level to the platform level, to prevent over-crowding on the platform. The crowds were mostly cleared by the third train after service had resumed.
We thank the commuters who alerted our staff to the situation. The Emergency Stop Plunger located on the station platforms stop train services when activated. 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.