MRT Collision in Joo Koon: Here Are 11 Facts You Should Know About This Incident

Think train breakdowns were bad?

If you do, throw that thought out of the window, because something has happened that’s arguably even worse than breakdowns.

Train collision.

This morning (15 November), an SMRT train collided with a stationary train at Joo Koon Station. A total of 25 people were taken to hospital.

Without further ado, here are 10 facts you should know about this latest incident.

It happened during the morning rush hour

According to the Land Transport Authority and SMRT, the incident occurred at around 8:20 a.m. on Wednesday morning (15 Nov).

But it wasn’t openly disclosed to the public. Not exactly, anyway.

At 8:25 a.m., SMRT tweeted this:

Heh, train fault huh?

The SCDF were brought into action

That’s right; the SCDF were called in.

That’s when you know shit’s serious.

The victims were taken to hospital

According to Channel NewsAsia, the victims were subsequently rushed off to hospital: 10 were taken to Ng Teng Fong Hospital (near Jurong East MRT Station), and 15 were at National University Hospital.

Out of the 25, two are SMRT staff.

In the latest update, it’s revealed that three more people were injured – instead of being transported to the hospital, they walked in at Ng Teng Fong Hospital instead.

Most injuries were minor

A spokesman from Ng Teng Fong Hospital has updated on the situation:

Among the 10 injured at the hospital, two were determined to have obtained injuries under the P2 category or “major emergencies” such as “limb fractures” and “joint dislocation”.

Another 8 were afflicted with minor injuries, and were found to be under the P3 category, which involves “sprains” and “minor head injuries”.

Over in NUH, as of now (15 November, 5:29 p.m.), two are still being treated while two have been warded for observation. The rest has since been discharged.

Fall

Facebook user Mei Anne wrote about her experience in the earlier morning.

According to her, she had been on one of the trains, and the collision had caused her to fall and hurt her back.

SMRT has spoken out

Around 3 hours ago, SMRT and LTA released a joint statement.

In case you can’t read:

[LTA – SMRT Joint Statement]

This morning at 8.18am, a train heading in the direction of Tuas Link Station stalled at Joo Koon Station. At 8.19am, a second train stopped behind the first faulty train. At 8.20am, the second train moved forward unexpectedly, and came into contact with the first train.

23 passengers and 2 SMRT staff sustained light to moderate injuries, and have been conveyed to Ng Teng Fong Hospital and National University Hospital. SMRT and LTA are investigating the incident.

The platforms were cordoned off

The platform for trains heading towards Tuas Link was partially cordoned off.

Train services, as a result, were slowed down.

It was an especially delayed morning

Because of the collision, numerous train delays occurred throughout the day.

At 8:25 a.m., there was a conjectured 20-minute delay along the East-West Line between Jurong East and Joo Koon stations. This was later extended to 30 minutes.

At 9:26 a.m., SMRT announced that there’ll be a 30 minutes delay in train travel time between Queenstown and Tuas Link.

At 9:58 a.m., passengers heading between Jurong East and Tuas Link can expect a 15-minute delay.

At 10:31 a.m., those travelling between Boon Lay and Tuas Link stations were advised to expect an extra 10 minutes during their commute.

Things then got slightly quieter, until…

Train services will be suspended for two hours

In the wake of the train collision this morning, East-West Line train services in both directions between Boon Lay and Tuas Link will be suspended for about 2 hours, beginning around 2:00 p.m. today.

In case you can’t read:

East-West Line update 2pm 15 Nov’17

East-West Line train services in both directions between Boon Lay and Tuas Link will be suspended for about 2 hours from 2pm today.

This is to facilitate the recovery of the two trains involved in this morning’s incident at Joo Koon MRT station. We are doing all we can to restore services safely and expeditiously.

This isn’t the first incident

More than two decades ago, a similar front-to-back collision between two trains had occurred at Clementi station on 5 August 1993. The incident had resulted in 156 injured commuters.

It was caused by a 50L oil spill from a maintenance locomotive. Since then, SOPs have been revised to prevent an occurrence.

Reason for the Collision Has Not Been Revealed

The only thing that we know so far is that a train, which has stopped, unexpectedly moved forward.

There Will be Fewer Trains in NSL Today

In the latest update by SMRT, there would be fewer trains, which leads to an additional 15 minutes travel time. There would also be free buses between Yishun and Bishan.

Trains between Boon Lay and Tuas Link would also be running slower.

It is unknown why the NSL is affected, though.

Since you’re here, why not watch a video about an NTU student who went all out to impress his crush, only to end up in…tragedy? Here, watch it and do remember to share it (and also subscribe to Goody Feed YouTube channel)!

This article was first published on goodyfeed.com

Read Also

• Now, SMRT Faults Are Spreading To Taxis As Well
• 13 SMRT Staff Held Responsible for MRT Flood: What’s Next For Them?
• 9 Facts About SMRT’s Amnesty That You Probably Want to Know

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Featured image: Mei Anne