Man, 68, dies after falling in front of oncoming train at Segar LRT station; train service resumes after 4 hours

SINGAPORE – A man died after falling in front of an oncoming train on the Bukit Panjang LRT line on May 18, disrupting train services between the Senja and Bukit Panjang stations for about four hours.

The police said they received a call for assistance at the Segar LRT station at about 5.50am.

“Preliminary investigations revealed that at about 5am, a man was seen to have fallen onto the track in front of an oncoming train,” they said.

The 68-year-old man was found motionless and pronounced dead at the scene by a paramedic from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), they said, adding that based on preliminary investigations, they do not suspect foul play.

The SCDF said it was alerted to the incident at about 6.25am, adding that another person was taken to Woodlands Hospital.

It is believed the second person is a relative of the 68-year-old man.

The police said investigations are ongoing.

“Our care team has reached out to the family during this difficult time. We thank commuters for their patience and understanding,” SMRT Trains president Lam Sheau Kai said, adding that the train operator would continue to assist with police investigations.

Checks by The Straits Times show that the first train departs Segar station at 5.12am on weekdays.

Notice of the disruption first appeared on the MyTransport.SG app at around 6am, with the Land Transport Authority telling commuters to consider free bus services at the affected stations.

In a Facebook post at 6.25am, SMRT said affected travellers could download an e-Travel Chit as proof of travel at smrttravelchit.sg/

It added that live updates would be available at mytransport.sg/trainstatus

In a Facebook post at 6.52am, it said the service was disrupted “due to a track intrusion”.

In a subsequent update at 7.08am, it said that a man was seen trespassing onto the track near Segar station at about 5am. It later updated the post to say that a man “was seen to have fallen onto the track”.

“Train services between the Petir and Senja stations, in both directions, were temporarily suspended to allow the police safe access to the tracks for investigations,” it said.

At 10.17am, SMRT said train service between Senja and Petir stations had resumed in both directions and that free regular bus and bridging bus services had stopped.

During the four-hour delay, a long queue for the bridging bus was seen at the Bukit Panjang bus interchange at around 8.30am.

At the Bukit Panjang LRT station, SMRT staff were seen advising commuters on alternative travel options.

A couple who were on their way to Fajar station from the airport said taking the bus would be “more difficult” due to their heavy luggage, though they noted they had “no other choice”.

At about 9am, the entrance of Segar station was cordoned off by the police. A body was removed from the track by SCDF and police officers at about 9.10am.

The Bukit Panjang LRT line is undergoing an exercise to replace the power rail, which supplies electricity to the trains. It is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2026.

The fully automated network’s fleet was also completely refreshed in October and the line has been using a new communications-based train control signalling system since Nov 8.

The 8km line connects residential estates within Bukit Panjang and Choa Chu Kang to the North-South and Downtown lines and is the first driverless inter-town train feeder service.