Both the SMRT and the woman should be commended for the way they saw the situation and addressed it . A rare case indeed.
Two women trapped on train
SBS Transit admits serious lapse, staff disciplined
by Lin Yanqin [email protected] 05:55 AM Oct 09, 2009SINGAPORE - When the lights in the MRT train went out and the air-conditioning hummed to a stop, passenger Kalarani Shunmugasundram knew she was in trouble.
Asleep when the announcement came on asking passengers to disembark as the train was terminating its run at Punggol station, she woke up just as the doors were closing. Along with another passenger, she was stuck on the train for nearly an hour on Monday as it headed for the depot.
"I kept thinking maybe the train would stop somewhere," said Ms Kalarani, 40, a customer relations officer, who had been on her way to work. "But then it went right past all the stations, and then we entered something like a car wash for trains."
Ms Kalarani, who takes the train to work daily, had taken the train from Sengkang towards Punggol - the last stop on the North East Line - as she had wanted to secure a seat, assuming the train would head back towards Dhoby Ghaut once it reached Punggol.
Once the train had been scrubbed clean and blown dry, it pulled into the depot.
The two women activated the emergency call button and tried to signal for help.
A rescue team was despatched once the call button had been activated, but the two women were released before the rescue team arrived by staff, who had entered the train to put up new advertisements.
According to Ms Kalarani, the second woman, Mdm Yeoh Kau Mai had not disembarked the train at Punggol as she had not understood the announcement, even though it was made in four languages.
"She didn't get off because I didn't get off ... it was the blind leading the blind," said Ms Kalarani.
Expressing "dismay", SBS Transit, which operates the North East Line, acknowledged that the incident "could have been easily avoided if Standard Operating Procedures had been adhered to".
"Under normal operating procedure, the train would have been physically checked for any remaining passengers by our staff before it headed back to the depot. Unfortunately, this was not done ..." said SBS Transit vice-president for corporate communications Tammy Tan.
"It is a serious lapse on our part and we are not proud of it. We have since taken disciplinary action against those involved and added new measures to ensure that this does not happen again.
"This includes using our CCTVs to check the train cabins for passengers before the trains are returned to the depot."
Adding to Ms Kalarani's distress was the behaviour of the staff at Sengkang MRT station where she gone to lodge a complaint about the incident.
"He showed a complete lack of empathy and kept pushing a feedback form at me, and didn't even take down my contact details," said Ms Kalarani.
Ms Tan said the behaviour of the employee in question was "unacceptable" and he would be disciplined.
"Our staff should have exhibited greater care and concern. He should have comforted her and offered assistance but he did not," said Ms Tan.
Staff from SBS Transit visited Ms Kalarani her at home on Wednesday to apologise and presented her with a hamper and an ez-link card with stored value.
The operator is still trying to contact Mdm Yeoh Kau Mai.
Said Ms Kalarani: "To be fair, this is not entirely SBS' fault ... if someone had woken me up when they realised I was just sitting there, this wouldn't have happened. I think Singaporeans could do more to look out for one another."
Two women trapped on train
SBS Transit admits serious lapse, staff disciplined
by Lin Yanqin [email protected] 05:55 AM Oct 09, 2009SINGAPORE - When the lights in the MRT train went out and the air-conditioning hummed to a stop, passenger Kalarani Shunmugasundram knew she was in trouble.
Asleep when the announcement came on asking passengers to disembark as the train was terminating its run at Punggol station, she woke up just as the doors were closing. Along with another passenger, she was stuck on the train for nearly an hour on Monday as it headed for the depot.
"I kept thinking maybe the train would stop somewhere," said Ms Kalarani, 40, a customer relations officer, who had been on her way to work. "But then it went right past all the stations, and then we entered something like a car wash for trains."
Ms Kalarani, who takes the train to work daily, had taken the train from Sengkang towards Punggol - the last stop on the North East Line - as she had wanted to secure a seat, assuming the train would head back towards Dhoby Ghaut once it reached Punggol.
Once the train had been scrubbed clean and blown dry, it pulled into the depot.
The two women activated the emergency call button and tried to signal for help.
A rescue team was despatched once the call button had been activated, but the two women were released before the rescue team arrived by staff, who had entered the train to put up new advertisements.
According to Ms Kalarani, the second woman, Mdm Yeoh Kau Mai had not disembarked the train at Punggol as she had not understood the announcement, even though it was made in four languages.
"She didn't get off because I didn't get off ... it was the blind leading the blind," said Ms Kalarani.
Expressing "dismay", SBS Transit, which operates the North East Line, acknowledged that the incident "could have been easily avoided if Standard Operating Procedures had been adhered to".
"Under normal operating procedure, the train would have been physically checked for any remaining passengers by our staff before it headed back to the depot. Unfortunately, this was not done ..." said SBS Transit vice-president for corporate communications Tammy Tan.
"It is a serious lapse on our part and we are not proud of it. We have since taken disciplinary action against those involved and added new measures to ensure that this does not happen again.
"This includes using our CCTVs to check the train cabins for passengers before the trains are returned to the depot."
Adding to Ms Kalarani's distress was the behaviour of the staff at Sengkang MRT station where she gone to lodge a complaint about the incident.
"He showed a complete lack of empathy and kept pushing a feedback form at me, and didn't even take down my contact details," said Ms Kalarani.
Ms Tan said the behaviour of the employee in question was "unacceptable" and he would be disciplined.
"Our staff should have exhibited greater care and concern. He should have comforted her and offered assistance but he did not," said Ms Tan.
Staff from SBS Transit visited Ms Kalarani her at home on Wednesday to apologise and presented her with a hamper and an ez-link card with stored value.
The operator is still trying to contact Mdm Yeoh Kau Mai.
Said Ms Kalarani: "To be fair, this is not entirely SBS' fault ... if someone had woken me up when they realised I was just sitting there, this wouldn't have happened. I think Singaporeans could do more to look out for one another."
