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3 MRT disruption incidents in early Feb. 2025 were unrelated, no 'systemic issue' & no need for COI: Chee Hong Tat
The minister also spoke at length on the details regarding each disruption.
Matthias Ang
February 26, 2025, 01:10 PM
The three incidents of MRT disruption which occurred from Feb. 7 to 11 were unrelated as they involved different lines, components, operations and maintenance teams, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said in Parliament on Feb. 26.
Chee was responding to questions posed by Members of Parliament (MPs) Leong Mun Wai and Dennis Tan about the disruptions to the North-South Line (NSL) on Feb. 7, the North-East Line (NEL) on Feb. 10 and the Circle Line (CCL) on Feb. 11.
When Leong asked Chee if he would consider convening a Committee of Inquiry (COI) in light of how all three incidents occurred within a week, Chee replied that as all of them were unrelated, it did not show a systemic issue or concern which would necessitate a COI.
What exactly happened in all three incidents?
Chee shared the preliminary findings into the three incidents.Feb. 7 NSL disruption
At around 5:15 am, an engineering vehicle broke down at a railway crossing in Bishan Depot after routine maintenance works.This engineering vehicle comprises three wagons, used for carrying equipment and materials for maintenance works, and two locomotives, used for moving the wagons along the MRT tracks.
The minister pointed out that as trains departing Bishan Depot for the main line need to pass through this railway crossing, SMRT was unable to launch trains from Bishan Depot.
Hence, to allow operations to resume, SMRT attempted to move the stalled engineering vehicle using a rescue train.
However, when the rescue train started moving the stalled vehicle, SMRT discovered that some of the wheels of two of the wagons had come off the rails.
"By the time the engineering vehicle stalled, only three out of 39 trains that were scheduled to serve the NSL that morning had been launched from Bishan Depot," he said.
In response, SMRT redirected some trains from the East-West Line (EWL) to the NSL.
Chee added:
The minister noted that commuters experienced longer waiting times at the stations, as there were fewer trains during the peak periods but their travel times were largely unaffected once they boarded.
As for the stalled engineering vehicle, SMRT had to use hydraulic equipment to slowly and safely shift the stalled vehicle onto another track, as the tight space around the tracks meant SMRT could not use heavy lifting cranes.
The vehicle was cleared off the railway crossing by around 5:30pm and SMRT was able to launch trains from Bishan Depot from 6:36pm, and progressively restored normal train service for commuters on the NSL and EWL, following a series of safety checks.
Feb. 10 NEL disruption
On Feb. 10, a signalling fault occurred near Buangkok station at about 6:08am.This prevented the NEL trains from being controlled automatically, Chee said.
As a result, while trains could still travel along the NEL, they had to be controlled manually and travel at slower speeds to ensure safety.
This in turn led to reduced frequency of service and additional travel time for commuters.
In response, SBS Transit (SBST) activated free regular and bridging buses along the NEL between Punggol Coast and Dhoby Ghaut stations at 6:55 am, to provide commuters with an alternative travel option, he added.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the signalling fault was caused by a malfunctioning electronic card in the signalling system.
He said:
Feb. 11 CCL disruption
As for the Feb. 11 CCL disruption, Chee noted that on Feb. 13, LTA had said that a power trip had occurred arising from a signalling fault.However, further investigations show that there was no power trip, and that the incident was due to a signalling fault, he said.
Based on LTA's latest findings, at around 8:15am, a signalling fault caused a temporary loss of communications between CCL train and the track side signalling equipment.
When this happens, the train in question will engage its brakes and stop moving in accordance with safety protocols, Chee explained.
In addition, the other trains near the affected train will also come to a stop to ensure safety for commuters, so as to keep the trains at a safe distance from one another until communications can be fully restored.
"Due to this signalling fault, 17 trains between Paya Lebar and Marymount stations were temporarily halted for safety," Chee pointed out.
SMRT then withdrew the incident train from the mainline, and after doing the necessary safety checks, train movement resumed progressively from 8:20am, five minutes after the signalling fault first occurred.
However, when train operations were being restored, SMRT noticed that the Central Automatic Train Supervision (CATS) system, which manages the movement of trains, became less responsive.
As a result, it took longer than usual to resume normal train operations, even though trains had started moving on the CCL, Chee said.
The delay in resumption of normal train operations led to longer wait times and travel durations for some CCL commuters.
On the CATS system, Chee elaborated:
All three incidents did not result in a prolonged stoppage of train services
Chee subsequently highlighted that unlike some previous disruptions where trains were unable to continue travelling on the tracks, the three incidents did not result in a prolonged stoppage of train services."However, as these incidents happened during the morning peak hours, they affected a larger number of commuters and lengthened the waiting and travel times," the minister said.
Staff morale
In his follow-up question, in addition for calling for a COI, Leong asked if the minister could look into potential problems with staffing, turnover, skill level and morale among the engineering and maintenance department of SMRT.Chee pointed out that a COI is not necessary as the incidents are unrelated and there's no systemic issue.
LTA, the regulator, is empowered to conduct a thorough investigation and share its findings publicly.
Chee said he is committed to sharing the findings of LTA's investigation into the previous year's East-West Line disruption publicly.
However, Chee agreed with Leong that a review should go "beyond hardware", and thanked Leong for highlighting the importance of staff morale, as the teams are important for ensuring smooth performance.
Communications to public
When asked by Tan about how the public communication process to commuters can be improved, Chee replied that this is an area where the government will see how it can be fine-tuned and improved.In the case of these incidents, both SMRT and SBS Transit did their best to communicate alternative means of transport to commuters, he added.
In addition, these disruptions are why the government will continue to expand the country's MRT network so as to provide more alternatives to commuters in the event of a disruption, the minister concluded.
Top image from Both Checkpoint/Facebook, Cp RailNbuses/Facebook, @jackdejack123/TikTok
