Death of 2 trainees: SMRT must assure all that safety comes first

Two new SMRT employees who joined in January were struck by a train near Pasir Ris MRT station. They were walking with 13 other staff members in a single file on the train track to investigate a possible fault 200m away from the station along a 0.5m wide walkway.

The operator is still trying to find out how they got on the track or even close enough to the oncoming train from the witnesses, as there were no closed-circuit television cameras nearby. However, some people ask: should the train have been travelling in auto mode and at a speed of 60km/h with workers on the track?

A staff member stationed at the headwall of Tampines MRT station was supposed to notify the train drivers that there were employees on the track, and then switch to manual. Furthermore, train drivers are meant to keep a lookout, slowing down when approaching a work party.

Did the driver know about the 15 men on the track and was he alerted about it? If he knew, why was the train not driven at a slower speed manually? There are many questions about this accident that need to be addressed.

Jing Rung

2 Diligence

Source:

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/death-of-2-trainees-smrt-must-assure-all-that-safety-comes-first