Platform barriers at all LRT stations by 2018 to prevent falls

By 2018, all LRT stations will have glass and steel platform barriers in an effort to prevent people falling or getting onto the tracks, reported The Straits Times.

However, unlike the barriers erected in overground MRT stations in 2012, the LRT structures will not have doors. Instead, they will have fixed openings with which trains will align their doors.The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has called for tenders for the project. A spokesman said this was in response to rising passenger numbers. Last year, average daily LRT ridership stood at 137,000: almost three times what it was in 2004.

The first barriers will be erected at the Bukit Panjang and Chua Chu Kang LRT stations, in anticipation of higher commuter traffic with the opening of Downtown Line 2 at the end of this year. This will be followed by the rest of the stations on the Bukit Panjang and Sengkang-Punggol LRT systems, with the work completed in 2017 and 2018 respectively. "All works will be carried out during non-service hours to minimise inconvenience to commuters," said a spokesman.

Since 2010, there have been on average three LRT track intrusions per year. The new barriers will not be totally secure as the tracks are still accessible via the fixed openings. The LTA explained that, since LRT platforms are significantly smaller than MRT platforms, the operation of platform screen doors will require power, communications and signal control rooms, which will take up a substantial amount of passengers' waiting space.