Yishun MRT station

Platform level of Yishun station.

Concourse and ticket barriers at Yishun station.

Exit A of the station.

Yishun opened on 20 December 1988, two years earlier than planned. During the start of construction in December 1984, Nee Soon North― the original name of the station― was renamed to Yishun and Nee Soon South was renamed to Khatib.[1] In 1990, there was a power failure which occurred at Yishun station.[2] Before the underpass link to Northpoint was completed in 1993, there was a pedestrian crossing that linked the station and bus interchange.

In December 2001, the Singapore embassies attack plot was discovered, and had included plans to bomb Yishun MRT station at several points, including the sewers near the station. This was brought up in a debate during a session of the parliament, during which new security measures were proposed, especially on the MRT system itself.[3]

On 16 April 2003, power supply to trackside equipment between Yio Chu Kang and Sembawang stations was disrupted at 8.02 am due to a lightning strike which affected eight point machines along the track. After the SMRT staff manually secured the points and fixed the positions, northbound train services were restored at 8.30 am while southbound services were restored at 8.48 am.

On the early morning of 5 December 2006, a foreign worker in his early twenties, was hit by a southbound train at the station and caused trains from Sembawang to Yio Chu Kang stations to be disrupted for more than an hour. He was later pronounced dead.[4] In February 2007 a leaked CCTV footage of the incident along with another at Admiralty MRT station began circulating on the Internet, with the man in question crawling from under the platform and onto the track as the train approaches,[5] leading to suggestions that it was a case of suicide.[6] On 19 January 2008 at about 1530 hours (SST), a call was made from a public telephone at the MRT Station alleging that there was a bomb at the station.[7] Police arrested a 31-year old Chinese man believed to be linked to the crime on 23 February that year at 1600 hours. The man was charged on 25th of that month for transmitting a false message that makes reference to a bomb.[8] At 11.45 am on 11 October that year, a man was found on the tracks of the station and was sent to hospital. Train service was disrupted in between Sembawang and Yio Chu Kang stations, affecting 2900 people. Regular service was resumed at 12.16 pm.[9]

Yishun, Pasir Ris and Jurong East were the first stations to undergo testing as to whether the platform screen doors were viable for elevated stations. Eventually, installation of the half-height platform screen doors started on 26 August 2009 and operations commenced on 2 December that year. It was the second above-ground station to have half-height platform screen doors installed and commence operations, after Pasir Ris. The tests were successful. Half-height screen doors have been installed in all elevated stations.

Yishun is the first station in northern Singapore to have high-volume low-speed fans installed, which have been in operation as of 27 June 2012.

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• Official website