LTA, SMRT, SBS Transit establish task force to address MRT service disruptions

The Land Transport Authority (LTA), SMRT and SBS Transit (SBST) on Friday (Sep 19) jointly announced the establishment of a Rail Reliability Taskforce to address a recent spate of MRT service disruptions.

There have been at least six major rail disruptions in September alone, following four in July and five in August. The disruptions included mass rapid transit and light rail transit lines.

The task force will be chaired by LTA chief executive Ng Lang and include SMRT group chief executive officer Ngien Hoon Ping, SBST group chief executive Jeffrey Sim, as well as technical specialists drawn from across the rail sector.

“It will develop and implement immediate solutions to improve rail reliability and joint responses to service disruptions,” said the joint statement. “The task force will report its findings to the acting minister of transport regularly and submit its final recommendations by the end of the year.”

Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow said on Instagram that he has “asked LTA to share more information with the public on these incidents”.

“I separately have tasked LTA to work together with the train operators to speed up asset upgrades, conduct joint technical audits on the critical parts of the rail system, and improve service recovery procedures,” he added.

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The task force will review the recent incidents to flag components involved that are approaching their end-of-life and need replacement, upgrades or increased maintenance. It will also look into bringing forward the renewal programme for the North East Line (NEL) power system, while reviewing ways to strengthen the signalling system for the NEL and Circle Line in the short term before renewal is due.

Full technical audits of the maintenance and operations of critical systems will also be carried out. These will include a review of asset conditions, maintenance processes, operational and redundancy procedures, as well as staff training and competency.

The task force will also review service recovery processes with an eye on reducing the impact of service delays to commuters. Procedures will be reviewed to improve service recovery speeds, such as reducing the number of detrainments.

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Training regimes will also be looked at to ensure that officers on the ground can adequately perform service recovery during service incidents.

The National Transport Workers’ Union said on Facebook that it will ensure that public transport workers are “equipped with resources and training necessary to contribute effectively towards modernising an ageing transport infrastructure, improving service recovery” while advocating for their well-being.