Do train doors close without warning?
Ms Charmain Ng wrote the the ST Forum relating an incident in which her hand and bag were caught between MRT train and platform doors:
The place was crowded and as we were boarding the train, the train and platform screen doors suddenly closed without warning. My left hand and bag were caught between the train doors while I was still standing on the platform.
I assumed the doors would reopen but that did not happen. I had to tug hard to extricate my hand and bag before the train and platform screen doors closed completely.
SMRT replies saying:
All SMRT train and platform screen doors are fitted with safety sensors that ensure all doors are closed and locked before a train is permitted to move off from the station. [Yes, but was there a glitch in the system during the particular incident provided by Ms Ng?]
The train officer will reopen the train doors [so the doors won’t open automatically?] if the sensor indicator shows that the doors are not fully closed. In Ms Ng's case, she had managed to pull in her hand and bag before the train doors were fully closed hence the indicator did not prompt our train officer to reopen the train doors.
Excuse me, but didn’t you say that if the train doors were not fully closed, it will be shown through the sensor indicator? Then you say that she pulled her hand out before the doors were fully closed, so the indicator did not tell the train officer to open the doors. Doesn’t this second statement seem to suggest that the doors had to be fully closed before the indicator would show the officer that something got stuck? (What? You want the doors to amputate her hand ah?)
Of course, perhaps there are two meanings of “fully closed”-the first being that the doors are fully closed with nothing between them, and the second being that the doors are fully closed with something stuck between them. This should have been made very clear and when Ms Ng said that her pulled her hand out before the doors were “closed completely”, she was clearly using the first meaning. It seems obvious that Ms Ng’s hand was caught between the doors. So the explanation by SMRT seems lacking. I would assume that the moment anything is caught between the doors, the indicator should indicate to the train officer to open the door-if the doors do not open automatically (why don’t they?).
What Ms Ng and the public is interested in knowing is probably whether there was a glitch in the system and whether it is well-maintained. One point that SMRT seems to have failed to address is Ms Ng’s claim that the doors closed “without warning”. We know that an alarm would go off before the doors close. If Ms Ng’s account was accurate, then it would seem that there was a glitch in the system, at least where “train doors are closing” alarm is concerned. And from her account, it would seem that there was a very short but significant amount of time after her hand was caught between the doors: “I assumed the doors would reopen but that did not happen. I had to tug hard to extricate my hand and bag before the train and platform screen doors closed completely.” Assuming that Ms Ng’s account is reliable, it seems quite possible that she actually “waited” before pulling her hand out instead of pulling it out immediately after it was caught between the doors. So was the indicator able to indicate that something was caught between the doors?
The public does need replies that state what should have happened as though it represents what actually happened. But it seems that it’s the trend in Singapore these days.
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Hand Caught in Train Door (March 5 2009)
DO MRT train doors and platform screen doors have automatic sensors? If a person or object is caught between the doors, do they continue to close or do they reopen?
My experience suggests that safety measures at train stations are inadequate.
Last Saturday afternoon, I was waiting to board an eastbound train at City Hall MRT Station.
The place was crowded and as we were boarding the train, the train and platform screen doors suddenly closed without warning. My left hand and bag were caught between the train doors while I was still standing on the platform.
I assumed the doors would reopen but that did not happen. I had to tug hard to extricate my hand and bag before the train and platform screen doors closed completely.
Does the train driver not monitor the boarding situation before and while closing the doors? What if a small child had been caught between the doors?
Does this also escape the attention of staff in the station control room, where the CCTV monitoring system could have shown what happened on the platform?
I reported the incident to a station manager, who told me the doors have automatic sensors and they would reopen if an object is stuck between them. He was unable to explain how the incident occurred.
Charmaine Ng (Miss)
Hand caught in door: Don’t rush, advises SMRT
I REFER to the online letter "Hand caught in train door" by Ms Charmaine Ng (March 6).
We are sorry to learn of Ms Ng's experience on Feb 28. All SMRT train and platform screen doors are fitted with safety sensors that ensure all doors are closed and locked before a train is permitted to move off from the station.
The train officer will reopen the train doors if the sensor indicator shows that the doors are not fully closed. In Ms Ng's case, she had managed to pull in her hand and bag before the train doors were fully closed, hence the indicator did not prompt our train officer to reopen the train doors.
Our investigation also showed that our staff at Raffles Place MRT station had promptly attended to Ms Ng's complaint and reassured her that the incident would be investigated. [Your investigation shows that you promised to investigate? Haha, this sounds quite funny.]
We wish to take this opportunity to remind passengers not to rush into the train when doors are closing. Before the doors are closed, a chime, door closing announcement and a buzzer are played to alert passengers of the impending closure of the doors. As a visual reminder, there are also red flashing lights above platform screen doors at underground stations. [But Ms Ng said that the doors closed without warning.]
Bernadette Low (Ms)
Manager, Corporate Marketing and Communications
SMRT Corporation Ltd
The place was crowded and as we were boarding the train, the train and platform screen doors suddenly closed without warning. My left hand and bag were caught between the train doors while I was still standing on the platform.
I assumed the doors would reopen but that did not happen. I had to tug hard to extricate my hand and bag before the train and platform screen doors closed completely.
SMRT replies saying:
All SMRT train and platform screen doors are fitted with safety sensors that ensure all doors are closed and locked before a train is permitted to move off from the station. [Yes, but was there a glitch in the system during the particular incident provided by Ms Ng?]
The train officer will reopen the train doors [so the doors won’t open automatically?] if the sensor indicator shows that the doors are not fully closed. In Ms Ng's case, she had managed to pull in her hand and bag before the train doors were fully closed hence the indicator did not prompt our train officer to reopen the train doors.
Excuse me, but didn’t you say that if the train doors were not fully closed, it will be shown through the sensor indicator? Then you say that she pulled her hand out before the doors were fully closed, so the indicator did not tell the train officer to open the doors. Doesn’t this second statement seem to suggest that the doors had to be fully closed before the indicator would show the officer that something got stuck? (What? You want the doors to amputate her hand ah?)
Of course, perhaps there are two meanings of “fully closed”-the first being that the doors are fully closed with nothing between them, and the second being that the doors are fully closed with something stuck between them. This should have been made very clear and when Ms Ng said that her pulled her hand out before the doors were “closed completely”, she was clearly using the first meaning. It seems obvious that Ms Ng’s hand was caught between the doors. So the explanation by SMRT seems lacking. I would assume that the moment anything is caught between the doors, the indicator should indicate to the train officer to open the door-if the doors do not open automatically (why don’t they?).
What Ms Ng and the public is interested in knowing is probably whether there was a glitch in the system and whether it is well-maintained. One point that SMRT seems to have failed to address is Ms Ng’s claim that the doors closed “without warning”. We know that an alarm would go off before the doors close. If Ms Ng’s account was accurate, then it would seem that there was a glitch in the system, at least where “train doors are closing” alarm is concerned. And from her account, it would seem that there was a very short but significant amount of time after her hand was caught between the doors: “I assumed the doors would reopen but that did not happen. I had to tug hard to extricate my hand and bag before the train and platform screen doors closed completely.” Assuming that Ms Ng’s account is reliable, it seems quite possible that she actually “waited” before pulling her hand out instead of pulling it out immediately after it was caught between the doors. So was the indicator able to indicate that something was caught between the doors?
The public does need replies that state what should have happened as though it represents what actually happened. But it seems that it’s the trend in Singapore these days.
****************************************************************************************************
Hand Caught in Train Door (March 5 2009)
DO MRT train doors and platform screen doors have automatic sensors? If a person or object is caught between the doors, do they continue to close or do they reopen?
My experience suggests that safety measures at train stations are inadequate.
Last Saturday afternoon, I was waiting to board an eastbound train at City Hall MRT Station.
The place was crowded and as we were boarding the train, the train and platform screen doors suddenly closed without warning. My left hand and bag were caught between the train doors while I was still standing on the platform.
I assumed the doors would reopen but that did not happen. I had to tug hard to extricate my hand and bag before the train and platform screen doors closed completely.
Does the train driver not monitor the boarding situation before and while closing the doors? What if a small child had been caught between the doors?
Does this also escape the attention of staff in the station control room, where the CCTV monitoring system could have shown what happened on the platform?
I reported the incident to a station manager, who told me the doors have automatic sensors and they would reopen if an object is stuck between them. He was unable to explain how the incident occurred.
Charmaine Ng (Miss)
Hand caught in door: Don’t rush, advises SMRT
I REFER to the online letter "Hand caught in train door" by Ms Charmaine Ng (March 6).
We are sorry to learn of Ms Ng's experience on Feb 28. All SMRT train and platform screen doors are fitted with safety sensors that ensure all doors are closed and locked before a train is permitted to move off from the station.
The train officer will reopen the train doors if the sensor indicator shows that the doors are not fully closed. In Ms Ng's case, she had managed to pull in her hand and bag before the train doors were fully closed, hence the indicator did not prompt our train officer to reopen the train doors.
Our investigation also showed that our staff at Raffles Place MRT station had promptly attended to Ms Ng's complaint and reassured her that the incident would be investigated. [Your investigation shows that you promised to investigate? Haha, this sounds quite funny.]
We wish to take this opportunity to remind passengers not to rush into the train when doors are closing. Before the doors are closed, a chime, door closing announcement and a buzzer are played to alert passengers of the impending closure of the doors. As a visual reminder, there are also red flashing lights above platform screen doors at underground stations. [But Ms Ng said that the doors closed without warning.]
Bernadette Low (Ms)
Manager, Corporate Marketing and Communications
SMRT Corporation Ltd