SMRT explains why LRT did not stop for three stations, but commuters still have some concerns

Further questions are being raised by commuters.

Jonathan Lim | August 01, 2016, 06:36 PM

Remember the incident when a woman recounted her harrowing experience aboard the "really fast" LRT which did not stop for three stations (between Segar and Phoenix)?

SMRT have now revealed the findings of their investigations.

SMRT said that the "train skipped Jelapang station due to a fault on the train's antenna that ensures trains stop accurately at each station. The train was hence not able to pick up the signal to stop at the next three stations."

And the speed of the train?

SMRT said that they have "confirmed that the train did not exceed 55 km per hour during this incident. Commuters may wish to know that BPLRT trains operate at a speed range of 30 – 55 km per hour depending on the gradient and turn of each section of the BPLRT network."

On the reason why the emergency button did not seem to work, SMRT said that Jacqueline Bong was "probably " referring to the Emergency Halt Request button "can only be activated when a train comes to a complete stop at a station, to prevent it from moving off again."

Bong added that a call from the train's emergency phone did not get a response.

SMRT explained that calls were received by the  Operations Control Centre (OCC). However, they received multiple calls during that incident, including one made by a mobile phone aboard the train, hence the call from the train's emergency phone was put on queue.

Other concerns from commuters

After SMRT had issued its findings on its Facebook page, Bong took issue with the explanation of the emergency button.

She said no one from SMRT clarified with her on which button she pressed:

bong smrt

Following SMRT's sharing of its findings, netizens questioned whether SMRT knew the train was skipping stations and whether the train only stopped after passengers themselves alerted the OCC:

lrt fail concerns

lrt fail concerns 2

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