There was another MRT suicide this morning, this time at Choa Chu Kang MRT. In terms of time and space, it is the closest I’ve ever come to witnessing a successful suicide:
>> If I had arrived at Yew Tee station just 3 min earlier, I would have been on the train that killed the guy
>> Choa Chu Kang station is just the next stop after Yew Tee station

Thank God I arrived at Yew Tee station at my usual time of 8.06am to board the 8.08am train. If I had been earlier, by just 3 min, I would have boarded the 8.04am train that would crush the guy at Choa Chu Kang station, the next station, just 4 min away by train.

Here’s what happened today:

This Monday morning, as I walked into Yew Tee MRT station, my only thoughts were that this was to be yet another typical Monday, the start of another long work-week. How wrong I was to be! I sauntered through the fare-gates expecting another tight squeeze on the next train.

If I had arrived at Yew Tee station just 3 min earlier, I would have been on the train that killed the guy

Upon reaching the platform, I waited for the next north-bound train to arrive (terminates at Jurong East station). When it did, I was surprised to see scores of people pouring OUT OF the train instead of squeezing INTO the train. Eventually, all the passengers alighted. Something was definitely amiss. Must be another track failure, I assumed (given the increasing regularity of such occurrences, and having been inconvenienced by a few myself). Man, has SMRT screwed up my work-day again, I thought.

Only as an announcement was made shortly after that all MRT services from Yew Tee station to Jurong East station would be disrupted for 50 minutes did the thought of an MRT suicide cross my mind. As I took the escalator down to the concourse and exited the station, the probability of this scenario grew in my mind. Not for any particular reason, but just a hunch.

As I boarded my company bus (background info: the company I work for, Total Oil Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd, provides 2 free bus services from Clementi and Yew Tee MRT stations respectively. I had been taking the bus from Clementi under the assumption the bus from Yew Tee was at maximum capacity. This was proved false today), the chatter was, naturally, about the train disruption. A middle-aged lady said it was most likely a track fault again and that SMRT would be fined again. Another man remarked that scores of inconvenienced people were now queuing for taxis.

As the company mini-bus pulled alongside Choa Chu Kang station a few minutes later to pick up some more workers, I noticed SCDF vehicles parked beside the station and an MRT train that had stopped halfway into the station. It was then that everyone realised that a suicide had occurred.

MRT suicides have multiplied in recent times. What explains this uptick in suicide attempts? Read my next article, MRT Suicides - Explaining the Phenomenon, in which I offer some explanations for this phenomenon.

Straits Times: Train services at Choa Chu Kang station disrupted after man fell onto track

2 fellow bloggers share their thoughts:
MRT Train Service Disruption at CCK: Update
Man jumped down onto MRT track at Choa Chu Kang MRT

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