Three investigations are looking into the East-West Line (EWL) MRT disruption that inconvenienced commuters for six days from 25 to 30 Sept.
One of them was announced in a news release by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Wednesday (2 Oct), which outlined three areas that its probe will cover.
Source: Singapore Road Accident on Facebook
Firstly, LTA will investigate the root cause of how an axle box was dislodged from a train, damaging 1.6km of tracks.
This includes a forensic study into the nature of the axle box failure, as well as the identification of “any other potential contributory factors that led to the incident”.
Secondly, LTA will review the existing fault detection and incident handling procedures to see whether “appropriate actions were taken”.
Measures to improve them, while minimising service disruptions and preventing damage to rail infrastructure, will also be proposed.
Thirdly, the operator’s response will be under the microscope, specifically in terms of timeliness and comprehensiveness.
LTA will thus review its efforts in service recovery and disruption mitigation, focusing on:
Image courtesy of Clarence Tan
During the investigation, LTA will gather facts, interview staff involved and review records and evidence, it said.
It will also consult an Expert Advisory Panel (EAP) appointed to review the investigation findings and advise on technical matters, LTA said.
The panel will be chaired by Mr Malcolm Dobell, a non-executive director for CPC Systems in the United Kingdom, who was Head of Train Systems for the London Underground and has more than 45 years’ experience railway operation and maintenance.
Source: Land Transport Authority
The other experts on the EAP will be:
(From left) Dr Tony Lee Kar Yun, Mr Chen Chao, Mr Chew Tai Chong, Prof Gan Hiong Yap and Professor Manoj Gupta. Source: Land Transport Authority
The investigations are expected to be completed “in a few months”, LTA said.
When that happens, the findings will be released to the public.
Separately, transport operator SMRT has also convened a committee to review the EWL disruption.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday (2 Oct) night, it said this was “in accordance with SMRT’s internal policy”.
The committee will be chaired by Mr Quek Gim Pew, who is an SMRT board member and was Chief Defence Scientist at the Ministry of Defence.
Another board member, Mr Ng Chin Hwee, will be the Deputy Chairman of the committee. He is the former chief executive officer of the SIA Engineering Company.
A number of independent panel members will also sit on the committee.
A third investigation will be carried out by the Transport Safety Investigation Bureau, a department within the Ministry of Transport.
This was revealed by Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
It will be an independent safety investigation, he said.
The EWL disruption, one of Singapore’s longest MRT breakdowns, not only affected a large group of commuters but also caused “substantial damage” to rail infrastructure, requiring “extensive repairs”, LTA said.
Normal service resumed on 1 Oct after engineers and technicians worked through the night to replace cracked rail segments and conduct comprehensive safety tests of the track and trackside equipment.
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Featured image adapted from Singapore Road Accident on Facebook and Chee Hong Tat on Facebook.
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