Creating Possibilities Together

Commentary of the day

Earlier this Monday (18th May), a 68-year old man was killed by a Bukit Panjang LRT train in the wee hours of the morning after falling onto the tracks. A LTA media statement on the 21st acknowledged such fatal falling risks on the LRT system, but ruled out platform screen doors as a solution on the grounds of “insufficient space on the platforms”. People are dying on our rail network, and yet the official response is a concerning disinterest in expanding platform screen door coverage to LRT systems, which continue to prove that they cannot respond timely to unwitting individuals who fall onto the tracks by accident.

As a matter of basic safety, platform screen doors must be a standard feature in our MRT and LRT stations. Using “insufficient space” as an excuse reflects a pathetic lack of imagination in advancing technology to fit essential safety items into legacy rail infrastructure that was never designed for it. That’s what innovation should mean in the rail industry, instead of blindly worshipping the false saviour of AI.

— 22nd May 2026