10-minute grace period for commuters who enter wrong platform at Stevens MRT station
SINGAPORE – When paid passenger service for Downtown Line 2 commences on Saturday (Jan 2), commuters who enter the wrong platform at Stevens MRT station will get a 10-minute grace period before getting charged.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said today that it has adjusted the fares system to allow commuters who enter the wrong platform to exit and re-enter the correct platform without getting charged.
Unlike typical MRT stations which have a common set of fare gates to the train platforms, Stevens station was designed as a “stacked station” due to land constraints, with one platform above the other and separate fare gates for the two platforms.
It is also the smallest station on the Downtown Line, located near the Wayang Satu Flyover and the wide Bukit Timah Canal. The northbound train heads towards Bukit Panjang, while the southbound train heads towards the Central Business District.
“The flyover and canal posed exceptional challenges to building a station,” LTA Chief Executive, Mr Chew Men Leong, said. “To enable a station to be constructed at all within the site constraints, our engineers built what we call a ‘stacked station’. Without this solution, it would be near impossible to provide a service to the residential, student and commercial population in this area.”
Mr Chew added that this situation is currently unique to Stevens station, and LTA will help commuters get accustomed to the design.
Besides the implementation of the grace period, LTA has added more signs within the station and deployed more staff to guide commuters to the correct platform.
As the rail network grows increasingly dense, more stations may be located within tight corridors, LTA noted.
