Record of Incidents on MRT and LRT Trains Such As Sudden Acceleration and Closing of Doors without Warning
Ministry of TransportSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns statistics on irregular train acceleration and doors closing without warning on MRT and LRT systems, as raised by Non-Constituency Member Leon Perera. Second Minister for Transport Ng Chee Meng reported annual averages of 20 acceleration and 125 door-closing incidents on MRT trains, primarily occurring on the North-South and East-West Lines. The Minister attributed acceleration issues to track maintenance and door incidents to manual operation, which will be mitigated by the new automated Communications-Based Train Control signalling system. Data is currently collated via commuter reports, and the Ministry is investing in renewing 66 trains and upgrading signalling projects to enhance system reliability and the commuter experience. Second Minister for Transport Ng Chee Meng also stated that the Ministry would consider publishing such data as key performance indicators at regular intervals in the future.
Transcript
10 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Transport (a) for each year over the past five years, how many instances have occurred of MRT or LRT trains (i) undergoing irregular and sudden acceleration and (ii) train doors closing without warning; and (b) whether there is any mechanism for collating data on such incidents if they are not reported by commuters.
The Second Minister for Transport (Mr Ng Chee Meng) (for the Minister for Transport): Mr Speaker, over the past five years, the majority of cases of irregular and sudden acceleration and train doors closing without warning, occurred on the North-South and East-West Lines (NSEWLs), which are our oldest lines. Commuters reported an average of 20 cases of irregular and sudden acceleration per year on Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) trains and two cases per year on Light Rail Transit (LRT) trains. The abrupt changes in speed stemmed from temporary speed restrictions due to ongoing track maintenance and renewal works.
Over the same period, commuters reported an average of 125 cases of train doors closing without warning per year for MRT trains, and less than one case per year for LRT trains. The NSEWLs are the only lines where the train doors are closed manually by the train captain on board. This introduces an element of human error. The new Communications-Based Train Control signalling system will address this by automating the announcement and closing of train doors.
Reports by commuters are the primary means by which data on such occurrences is collated. Every report is thoroughly investigated.
Mr Speaker: Mr Leon Perera.
Mr Leon Perera (Non-Constituency Member): I thank the Minister for his comprehensive reply. Just one supplementary question: will the Ministry consider publishing such data at regular intervals in future as a key performance indicator of the performance of the system in this regard?
Mr Ng Chee Meng: The Ministry of Transport publishes different sets of data. In time, we will consider publishing such data as well. We are upgrading our train systems, as the Member well knows. The signalling project will bring better reliability to our train systems. We are also renewing the old trains on the NSEWL to the tune of about 66 trains in the coming years. This will up the reliability and the commuter experiences.