By Cheryl Lim

Three times unlucky was how creative director Damien Yang, 39, summed up his recent experience with MRT train doors that apparently closed on passengers without warning.

Mr Yang had waited to board a train at Raffles Place MRT station last Wednesday at about 6.30pm, but had it doors close on him abruptly instead.

He managed to squeeze out.

The doors normally close a few seconds after the alert sounds.

'How can they close at the same time? That defeats the purpose of the alert,' said Mr Yang, who was on his way to meet a friend at Outram Park station.

His experience got worse at Outram Park, where he and his friend, Ms Sophie Chu, 28, a content and media specialist, took a train to Chinatown station.

As they boarded the train, they heard a loud yelp as doors closed on passengers at the same time when the alert sounded.

Although no one was visibly hurt, they said passengers had to leap quickly to safety to avoid
the closing doors.

At Chinatown MRT station, they observed the same thing happening to another passenger,Mr Yang said.

The pair approached the station office, and were told by its staff that the trains had to reach a target timing during rush hour.

He added that commuters just have to learn how to avoid the closing doors.

A spokesman for SMRT Corp, which operates the Raffles Place station, said: 'After our investigations,all trains that day observed the stringent procedures when the doors closed'.

SMRT said its train doors are calibrated such that the closing speed is reduced when (the doors) are about to close to reduce the impact on commuters caught by the doors.

Doors can also be pushed open to allow a trapped person or object to be extricated.

If doors are not shut, the train driver is alerted by an indicator light in his cabin, the spokesman said.

SBS Transit vice-president of corporate communications, Ms Tammy Tan, said that its doors are pre-programmed to close after a pre-determined amount of time.

The company operates the North East Line, which Outram Park and Chinatown stations are part of.

Ms Tan added that its trains run without a driver and doors open when an object is caught by doors a safety feature required by the LTA.

A worker was stationed at Outram Park station that evening to direct commuters to a less crowded area of the platform, she claimed.

She added that the staff member at Chinatown station has been counselled for his lack of tact in his response to Mr Yang.

Both companies maintained that there has been no change in train dwell time the duration when commuters board and alight from trains during peak hours. -myp

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