SMRT to roll out video analytics system on Bukit Panjang LRT by end June this year
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SMRT said iSafe will improve commuter safety by alerting its staff to investigate once it detects someone on the track.
PHOTO: SMRT/FACEBOOK
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SINGAPORE - A video analytics system that alerts SMRT staff when a person is on the tracks will be rolled out on the Bukit Panjang LRT line before the third quarter of 2023.
Announcing this in a Facebook post on Monday, rail operator SMRT said the system, named iSafe, will improve commuter safety by prompting its operations control centre staff to investigate and take the necessary immediate measures once it detects someone on the track or standing within the “Keep Clear” zone.
The measures include making announcements over the station’s speakers to warn commuters who are getting too close to the tracks.
Responding to queries, SMRT Trains president Lam Sheau Kai said the operator aims to implement iSafe on the entire Bukit Panjang LRT line by the end of June. Additional cameras, network equipment and servers will be installed at LRT stations for the new system.
SMRT said it will continue to fine-tune iSafe and improve the system’s performance after it is rolled out.
Mr Lam said: “The safety of commuters is SMRT’s top priority. We spare no effort in doing what we can, and constantly seek innovative solutions to enhance commuter safety.”
Earlier in May, Senior Minister of State for Transport Amy Khor said in Parliament that public transport operators are looking into using video analytics technology to alert them to track intrusions, so that there is more time to intervene.
Over the past decade, there have been two deaths and one injury
In March 2023, a 33-year-old woman was found dead
The other death, in March 2017, involved a man who was drunk. He was struck by two trains after falling onto the track at Fajar station on the Bukit Panjang LRT line.
To prevent people from falling or getting onto the train tracks, all stations of the Bukit Panjang and Sengkang-Punggol LRT systems have been fitted with glass and steel platform barriers since 2018.
But unlike those at MRT stations, existing platform barriers at LRT stations are not fitted with platform screen doors and instead have fixed openings.
Dr Khor had cited space constraints, saying the installation of platform screen doors and their accompanying infrastructure would reduce the LRT stations’ passenger capacity significantly.
