SINGAPORE - Safety barriers have been installed at the platforms of all stations on the Bukit Panjang LRT (BPLRT), to prevent commuters from falling onto the tracks.
Works to install barriers for the Sengkang-Punggol LRT will be completed next year, said Second Minister for Transport Ng Chee Meng on Tuesday (Oct 3).
Mr Ng told Parliament the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and SMRT, which operates the BPLRT, are also testing out a video analytics system that can alert train operators to incidents on the tracks.
The safety of commuters is a "top priority", Mr Ng told Non-Constituency MP Leon Perera. He added that the LTA, and operators SMRT and SBS Transit, will do more to raise commuters' awareness of how to deal with such incidents.
In March, Mr Ang Boon Tong was struck by two driverless trains after he fell onto the tracks from the platform at Fajar station. The 43-year-old cook was drunk.
Currently, operators are required to inform commuters about safety procedures through signs and regular announcements at the station, Mr Ng said.
A passenger who has fallen onto the tracks can try to alert others who are nearby, he added. Commuters can also push emergency stop plungers located at every platform to stop trains from entering or leaving the platform.
Activating these will simultaneously alert the station's Passenger Service Centre and the line's Operations Control Centre, Mr Ng added.
Rail operators will immediately shut off traction power to the trains and dispatch trained personnel to the scene to provide assistance until the Singapore Civil Defence Force arrives, he said.
The safety barriers installed for the LRT system, which comprise glass and steel panels, are unlike those on the MRT network. The LRT's barriers do not have retractable doors, but instead have a fixed opening which the trains align to.
