Downtown Line passenger gets briefly ‘stuck’ between platform doors and train doors

SINGAPORE — The train and platform doors were almost completely shut, but one woman seemed determined not to miss the train.

On Wednesday (Aug 28), a video footage of a scene at a Downtown Line MRT station went viral on social media, showing a commuter who seemed to be “stuck” between the platform screen doors and the train doors in an attempt to board a train.

SBS Transit confirmed that an incident happened on Monday at about 3.30pm that involved a passenger who was seen running towards a train at Little India MRT Station heading in the direction of Expo station on the Downtown Line. 

Ms Tammy Tan, senior vice-president of corporate communications at SBS Transit, said: “The platform screen doors were already closing by the time she reached. The passenger used her hands to block the screen doors from closing fully. As a result, the screen doors started to retract as the system detected the obstruction.”

Closed-circuit television footage showed the passenger squeezing through the platform screen doors and trying to pry open the train doors.

At the same time, the platform doors seemed to slowly close while the passenger was still outside the train, causing her to be briefly “stuck” between the two sets of doors.

As an onlooker tried to pry open the platform doors, the train doors opened and the woman appeared to board the train. 

Ms Tan confirmed that it was a staff member on board the train who activated an emergency device, which enabled the train doors to reopen fully so that the passenger could board. 

The entire episode took place in 20 seconds, Ms Tan added. 

She also said that for this incident, a safety feature was in place that ensured the train would not move off as long as both sets of doors were not locked. 

“For safety reasons, commuters must not attempt such actions. This is extremely dangerous and could result in serious injury. It could also result in a service disruption as well as cause damage to public property,” Ms Tan cautioned.