Outram Park MRT station has been experiencing a human jam in the lead-up to Chinese New Year in mid-February 2018.

As the connecting MRT station between the North-East (purple) and East-West (green) lines, it has been overcrowded the past two weeks since mid-January.

And there appears to be no one clear direct cause for this human congestion phenomenon.

Here are some of the photos taken by commuters:

Seems like it's a #Bottleneck at #OutramPark MRT! 😳 @SMRT_Singapore #SMRT #Singapore #EastWestLine #MetroRail pic.twitter.com/FxGH20OGBI

— Sai Subramanian (@beingsai912) January 31, 2018

Jam at Outram park walking toward easy west line #evening rush #SINGAPORE #outrampark pic.twitter.com/cLuUI4ci4I

— Swaminathan (@imswaminathan) January 24, 2018

Meanwhile... hello Outram Park 😆 pic.twitter.com/T6GRp69rCm

— ｉｓａｂｅｌｏ (@isabeloparena) January 26, 2018

Outram Park completely blocked with ppl. No movement. #smrt #mrt #singapore pic.twitter.com/xA9hlKpjfb

— Eduard Pinos (@eduard_pinos) January 31, 2018

The lines are managed by SBS Transit and SMRT respectively.

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Why the crowd?

While some may attribute the congestion to hoardings that have been put up, which narrow the passageway's width, Channel NewsAsia reported that these hoardings have been around since last year and are probably not a factor.

They are meant to facilitate the construction of the upcoming Thomson-East Coast Line.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA), though, having observed a surge in crowds, have deduced that festive activities in the Chinatown area have been a likely cause for it.

Train operators SBS Transit and SMRT reckon this is so as well.

Measures to be implemented by next week

Speaking to CNA, a spokesperson from LTA said that measures will be implemented in a week's time to ease the congestion.

This includes installing additional directional signs, using barricades to segregate the commuters' directional flow, and deploying marshals during peak hours.

Top image from CK Tan's Facebook