13 hours ago
12
SINGAPORE: The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Friday (May 22) that it was investigating its safety measures and incident response processes after a 68-year-old man fell onto the LRT track at Segar station and died.
The investigation will “look into the adequacy and appropriateness of safety measures and incident response processes”, said an LTA spokesperson in response to CNA's queries.
“Based on investigation findings, further improvements will be made as needed to improve commuter safety,” they added.
According to authorities, Mr Loh Hee Chen was seen to have fallen in front of an oncoming train at about 5am on Monday.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it received a call for assistance related to the incident at about 6.25am.
The incident is also under police investigation.
Holland-Bukit Timah MP Edward Chia, who attended Mr Loh's wake, said his son had raised questions regarding the incident.
"I have assured him that I will follow up on the matters raised with the relevant agencies, as we await the outcome of the police investigation," he said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
LTA said that, along with rail operators, it recognised the risk of falls onto MRT and LRT tracks.
Unlike MRT stations, LRT stations do not have platform screen doors. Instead, stations have fixed barriers with gaps between them for passengers to enter and exit the train.
Screen doors cannot be installed at unmanned LRT stations due to physical limitations, said the LTA spokesperson.
“Platform screen doors must be integrated with train signalling systems to ensure that the train doors and platform screen doors open and close in sync," they said.
"If doors operate out of sync, this may cause further safety risks,” said the spokesperson. For example, they pointed out that screen doors could open when trains are not at the platform.
“As our LRT platforms are much smaller than MRT platforms, there is insufficient space to install equipment and cabling to support platform screen doors that can operate in sync with train doors, without substantially affecting the space available for commuters," they said.
LTA and rail operators continued to explore new technology solutions to overcome this constraint, the spokesperson added.
“More recently, LTA and rail operators have also adopted systems using artificial intelligence and video analytics to raise an immediate alert when persons move past the fixed barriers and enter LRT tracks," they said.
SMRT installed such a system, iSafe, at stations along the Bukit Panjang LRT service in 2023, said LTA. Segar station, where Monday's fatal incident occurred, lies on the Bukit Panjang LRT line.
A similar system has also been installed for the Sengkang-Punggol LRT line, the LTA spokesperson said.
CNA has asked LTA and SMRT if the iSafe system was triggered during Monday's incident.
