List of Singapore MRT disruptions

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SMRT Trains

For many years, Singapore's public transport system including the Mass Rapid Transit has been recognized internationally for its efficiency and cleanliness. However, since December 2011, disruptions to MRT train services in terms of severity and frequency have become a prominent national and international issue. There were two major MRT disruption incidents that affected a sizable part of the population and attracted action from the Singapore government:

  • Disruptions to the North-South Line on 15 December 2011 and 17 December 2011 has resulted in a government Committee of Inquiry to investigate these two major disruptions that has revealed shortcomings in SMRT's maintenance regime.
  • On 7 July 2015, an unrelated power fault related to the third rail insulation resulted in the disruption of the entire East-West Line and North-South Line. An investigation by LTA found lapses in maintenance by SMRT.[1]

2011 MRT disruptions

North South Line (NSL)

The Ang Mo Kio MRT station, located on the North South Line, one of the affected places during the 2011 MRT disruptions in Singapore

The two train services that disrupted on the North South Line that took place on 15 and 17 December 2011 were the worst breakdowns in SMRT's history (surpassed by the 2015 disruption that happened later).[2][3][4][5] All MRT stations on the North South Line and East West Line were further closed due to checks on all trains and tracks to be carry out. Train services started at 10 am instead. Free parallel bus services were also available from 5.30 am to 10 am. However, as the checks were not completed, train services were delayed up to two hours. Train service on the East West Line resumed at 11 am while North South Line resumed fully at 12.08 pm.[6][7]

Committee of Inquiry (COI) into December 2011 breakdowns

In December 2011, the government commissioned a Committee of Inquiry into the state of breakdowns and disruptions of the train services.[8] The committee is headed by Tan Siong Thye, Chief District Judge of the Subordinate Courts and the two other committee members are Professor Lim Mong King from the School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at Nanyang Technological University and Soh Wai Wah, Director of Prisons. On July 3, 2012, the Committee of Inquiry submitted its report to Transport Minister, Lui Tuck Yew.[9] A response is expected to be given by the Transport Minister to the COI report at a parliament sitting which held on July 9, 2012.[10] On July 4, 2012, the 358-page COI report made available to the public, cited shortcomings in SMRT's maintenance regime and checks done.[11]

List of 2015 disruptions

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

  • Monday, September 7 @ 4:10PM to 4:30PM - Train services on the North East Line were delayed in the direction of HarbourFront MRT Station due to a signalling fault.
  • Tuesday, September 8
    • @ 7:20AM to 8:00AM - Train services on the North East Line were delayed in both directions due to a signalling fault.
    • @ 8:50AM to 11:00AM - Train services on the North East Line were delayed in both directions due to a signalling fault.[19]
  • Tuesday, September 22 @ 8:40AM to 8:50AM - Train services on the North South Line were delayed in the direction of Jurong East MRT Station due to a train fault.[20]
  • Saturday, September 26 @ 6:10PM to 6:30PM - Train services on the North South Line were delayed between Bukit Gombak MRT Station and Jurong East MRT Station due to a train fault.
  • Wednesday, September 30 @ 3:20PM to 4:20PM - Train services on the East West Line were delayed between Tanah Merah MRT Station and Changi Airport MRT Station in both directions due to a track fault.

October

July 7 Disruption

On 7 July 2015, trains along the East-West Line and North-South Line experienced intermittent power surges. This eventually led to the entire suspension of both lines, affecting 413,000 passengers.[1] It was the worst MRT disruption in the history of the MRT.[23]

An investigation by LTA found that SMRT had failed to detect leakages to the underground tunnel between Tanjong Pagar and Raffles Place.[1] This led to mineral deposits on the third rail insulation, causing the power system to trip which led to the disruption of both lines.[1]

Impacts

Dissatisfaction with public transportation

While Singaporeans began to noticing some issues with the MRT system in terms of overcrowding, the December 2011 disruptions brought the state of public transportation as a whole to national and international prominence.[24] LTA also noted a marked increase in dissatisfaction with public transport with the release of the 2012 Public Transport Customer Satisfaction Survey, and promised government action to deal with issues relating to MRT and LRT disruptions.[25]

Changes to government policy

The government increased the penalty of train disruptions,[24] and made free travel available for any bus services passing MRT stations affected during any train disruptions.[26] To increase satisfaction with the public transport, the government introduced the Bus Service Enhancement Programme and free morning off-peak travel to the city as interim measures to cope with the demands of the public transport system.[24]

Financial penalties

For the December 2011 disruptions, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) imposed a maximum financial penalty of S$2 million on SMRT (approximately US$1.526 million) for the two train disruptions along the North South Line (NSL) on December 15 and 17, 2011.[27] For the July 2015 disruption, LTA imposed a higher penalty of S$5.4 million on SMRT.[1]

References

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  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/train-service-on-north-east-line-suspended-due-to-power-fault-reports-of

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