Judge finds SBS Transit ‘100% responsible' in lawsuit filed by woman who was trapped in train doors

Straits Times

a day ago

Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
The doors had closed on the woman's head and neck after she tripped and fell while trying to exit the train.
SINGAPORE - North East Line operator SBS Transit has been found to be '100 per cent responsible' for an incident at Punggol MRT station where the doors closed on a woman's head and neck after she tripped and fell while trying to exit the train.
The woman, Ms Ng Lai Ping, had filed a civil suit against SBS Transit for negligence over the June 27, 2022 incident.
She contended that she was trapped between the doors for 12 seconds, though SBS Transit presented CCTV footage to show that, at best, it was for one to two seconds.
In a judgment dated Aug 13, District Judge Sim Mei Ling found that SBS Transit had breached its duty of care to Ms Ng.
The trial will proceed to the next stage to determine whether the breach had caused the injuries allegedly suffered by Ms Ng and the quantum of any damages to be awarded.
SBS Transit has 14 days from the date of the judgment to file an appeal.
According to the judgment, Ms Ng had boarded a train at Sengkang MRT station, which was bound for Punggol MRT station, on the morning of June 27, 2022.
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Singapore Emergency broadcast system to alert S'pore public to disasters via their mobile phones: Edwin Tong
Singapore COE premiums up in all categories except motorcycles; Cat A price climbs 2.5% to $104,524
Singapore Grab users in Singapore shocked by fares of over $1,000 due to display glitch
Singapore New annual course will groom future leaders of Singapore's Chinese community
Life S'pore bands mark milestones with gigs: Silver Strings at 60, Mel & Joe at 55 and Lovehunters at 40
Singapore Singapore indie cinema The Projector owes over $1.2m to creditors
Asia Calls to cut ties: Malaysia flag furore tests PH-BN relations
She had intended to ride the train back from Punggol MRT station to Little India MRT station.
Ms Ng claimed that when the train was travelling from Sengkang MRT station to Punggol MRT station, an announcement was played informing passengers that service had resumed.
She said that after the train arrived at Punggol MRT Station, she remained seated in the carriage, waiting for the train to resume its journey.
There were five other passengers with her in the fifth carriage.
Ms Ng said she did not hear any shouting by staff members instructing passengers to alight, or see any staff member waving red light batons.
She said the lights in the carriage were suddenly switched off, leaving only the light above each door lit.
She then heard beeping sounds indicating that the doors were about to close.
Ms Ng said the other passengers got up and exited the train, and she also attempted to do so.
As the train was poorly lit, she tripped while trying to exit, she said.
Her face struck the gap between the platform and the train, and the platform doors and train doors closed on her head and neck.
Ms Ng contended that SBS Transit failed to play any audio message on the train to warn passengers that the train would be withdrawn, and that it did not play the correct audio message at the station to inform passengers that the train was not for boarding.
She took issue with the fact that out that no staff members entered the fifth carriage to warn passengers to alight and that the staff member in the sixth carriage was not equipped with a red light baton.
SBS Transit denied Ms Ng's claim that the service resumption announcement was played, and said its operational procedure for withdrawing trains was complied with on the day of the incident.
The operator contended that an announcement that the train was out of service had been played in the train, and that an announcement telling passengers not to board had been played at the platform.
SBS Transit said Ms Ng ought to have known from the announcements that she should not remain in the train.
It produced footage from CCTV cameras on the train and the platform, which did not record any audio.
The videos showed that five staff members were present when the incident occurred. None of them were seen entering the fifth carriage.
Two staff members carrying flashing red light batons boarded, then exited, the second and fourth carriages.
A third staff member who was not holding a red light baton boarded, and remained, at the sixth carriage.
SBS Transit said the assistant station manager in the sixth carriage had told passengers in the fifth carriage to exit the train and used his hands to signal to them to alight.
After the lights were dimmed, four of the passengers got up, followed by the fifth a few seconds later. Ms Ng was the last to get up.
The videos showed staff members rushing over to her after she fell.
Judge Sim concluded that Ms Ng's account was supported by the existence of five other passengers who remained seated and only started to exit the train after the lights dimmed.
Although at least three of the passengers were on their mobile phones, none of them appeared to have been wearing headphones. One of them even got up to change seats.
The judge said SBS Transit was not able to provide any direct evidence that the out of service announcement was in fact played in the train.
Although the transport operator sought to argue that the announcement must have been programmed to play automatically, no evidence was presented as to the extent to which announcements in NEL trains were automated.
None of the three witnesses it called were on the train when it was travelling from Sengkang to Punggol MRT station.
The judge also drew an adverse inference against SBS Transit for not calling the two staff members who were present in the train.
No explanation was given for not calling them as witnesses, she said.
The judge therefore found that it was more likely than not that the resumption announcement had been played in the train, and that no announcement had been played at the platform telling people not to board the train.
Ms Ng also took issue with SBS Transit's practice of only having four staff members involved in train withdrawal, who were directed to remain at their assigned carriages.
No staff member was therefore assigned to enter the fifth carriage.
The judge noted that SBS Transit initially had six staff members involved in train withdrawal, but the staff count was later reduced due to manpower shortages after the Covid-19 pandemic.
She did not find it unreasonable for SBS Transit to deploy four staff members.
It was also not unreasonable for the staff to remain in the fourth and sixth carriages, which were located near the lift and escalator landing area of Punggol MRT station and were the more critical areas because people arriving at the platform may rush into the train.