LTA ‘takes a serious view’ of 3 MRT disruptions this week, working to identify root causes

MRT disruptions on NSL, NEL & CCL this week were unrelated, says LTA

After Singapore commuters were inconvenienced by three MRT disruptions this week, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said it “takes a serious view” of the incidents.

In a Facebook post on Thursday (13 Feb), LTA added that the three incidents last Friday (7 Feb), Monday (10 Feb) and Tuesday (11 Feb) were unrelated and outlined its preliminary investigation findings.

Source: Land Transport Authority – We Keep Your World Moving on Facebook

NSL & EWL MRT disruptions caused by engineering vehicle breakdown: LTA

On 7 Feb, train services on the North-South Line (NSL) and East-West Line (EWL) suffered delays during the morning and evening peak hours.

This was caused by an engineering vehicle that broke down at 5.15am after completing routine maintenance works.

The breakdown happened at a railway crossing in Bishan Depot and prevented trains from being launched into passenger service, LTA said, adding:

When SMRT tried to move the stalled vehicle using a rescue train, some of the wheels of the engineering vehicle came off the rails.

Source: MRT Singapore Service Information on Facebook

Trains from EWL redirected to NSL

While trains from Bishan Depot primarily serve the NSL, some trains were redirected from the EWL so that the NSL could start operations.

That meant that commuters faced longer waiting times during peak hours on both lines, but at least train services could operate throughout the day.

The stalled engineering vehicle was cleared by 5.30pm, though the evening peak-hour frequency was partially affected, with commuters advised to expect longer train intervals, according to an SMRT Facebook post that day.

Source: SMRT on Facebook

Normal evening peak-hour services were progressively restored, LTA said, adding that the authority and SMRT are “conducting a thorough investigation into the root cause of this incident”.

SMRT had said that the incident is “completely different” from the EWL incident last September, in which a train derailment caused part of the line to be down for six days.

Fault in signalling equipment caused NEL delays

On 10 Feb, a fault in the signalling equipment occurred near Buangkok station at 6.08am.

Preliminary investigations indicate that the fault was caused by a malfunctioning electronic card, LTA said.

It caused North-East Line commuters to face delays of up to 30 minutes as trains travelled more slowly.

Source: 8world News on Facebook

Train services resumed after malfunctioning electronic card replaced

Normal train services progressively resumed from 8am, LTA said.

This came after SBS Transit replaced the malfunctioning electronic card that same morning, restoring the system’s operations.

The malfunctioning component has been sent to its system manufacturer Alstom for further examination.

Power trip affected 17 Circle Line trains on 11 Feb

The third disruption in five days took place on the Circle Line (CCL) between Paya Lebar and Marymount stations on 11 Feb.

It was caused by a signalling fault at 8.15am. which led to a power trip affecting 17 trains, LTA said.

Power was restored within five minutes, SMRT said, and train movement progressively resumed at 8.20am.

Sluggish train regulating system caused train delays

However, the Central Automatic Train Supervision (CATS) System, which regulates the movement of driverless trains, was found to be less responsive than usual.

This affected the ability of controllers to manage train movements efficiently, SMRT.

Thus, there was a delay in the resumption of normal operations, with approximately 30 minutes needed for the entire CCL to return to normal.

Key interchanges such as Serangoon, Buona Vista, Botanic Gardens and Bishan became congested, with about three trains needed to clear the crowds, compared with one to two trains during normal peak-hour service.

Source: Reddit

Software patch to be deployed this weekend

The CATS system issue was last experienced in September 2024, LTA said.

A software patch has been developed by Alstom over the past few months.

It will be deployed this weekend after rigorous testing is completed, LTA added.

LTA working to identify root causes of MRT disruptions

LTA said on 13 Feb that rail safety and reliability are “key priorities”.

Thus, it’s working closely with SMRT and SBS Transit to identify the root causes of the three recent disruptions.

It also pledged to improve incident response.

This comes after netizens on Reddit questioned why it took about two hours for SMRT to inform commuters about the CCL disruption on Tuesday.

Also read: 3 Thomson-East Coast Line disruptions in 1 week were unrelated, investigations underway: SMRT

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Featured image adapted from Reddit and Reddit.