SINGAPORE - There were adequate measures in place at the Ang Mo Kio MRT station to keep passengers reasonably safe, and the risk of passengers falling onto the train tracks was "minuscule".
This was why the bid of Thai teenager Nitcharee Peneakchanasak to claim $3.4 million in damages from train operator SMRT was dismissed, Justice Vinodh Coomaraswamy said in a written judgment released yesterday.
Nitcharee lost her legs after she fell onto the tracks in the station in April 2011 and was struck by a train pulling in.
Between 2004 and 2011, the injury rate from incidents in which the commuter was on the tracks at the same time as an oncoming train was one per 119.9 million passenger trips, the judge said, citing statistics from SMRT.
Given the minuscule risk of such an incident occurring, the existing safety features at the Ang Mo Kio MRT station was sufficient - even without half-height platform screen doors installed.
"Of course, in an abstract sense, even one death or catastrophic injury... can be said to be one too many. But we live in the real world," he said, adding that potential precautions are infinite, but resources are finite.
He said SMRT and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) owed Nitcharee a duty of care to ensure she was reasonably safe.
As to whether the defendants had breached the standard of care, the judge looked at the risk of a passenger getting hit by a train after falling onto the tracks and the practicability of the steps to eliminate or reduce that risk.
The teenager, who came here to study English, was at the station to take a train to meet her friends in town on the morning of April 3, a Sunday, in 2011.
CCTV footage showed her falling forward stiffly, with her arms by her side, as a train was approaching.
Initially, she said in her lawsuit that she was pushed. She later dropped the allegation and said she lost her balance - but maintained that she did not faint.
In his judgment, Justice Coomaraswamy said that based on his viewing of the footage and taking in expert evidence, it was clear she fell because she suffered a sudden loss of consciousness.
He noted that ordinarily, a person falling would try to regain his balance or try to break his fall by extending his arms - but Nitcharee did none of these things.
Lawyer K. Anparasan, who acted for SMRT and LTA, said his clients are pleased with the judgment.
"However, we must not forget that this is a tragic case involving a young girl, and our thoughts are with her and her family."
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.