SMRT Trains see a record $86 million loss for FY2018

Due to increased operating expenses in addition to fewer riders, SMRT Trains has posted an after-tax loss of $86 million for fiscal year 2018.

SMRT’s most recent Operations Review shows that what happened for FY 2018 is the opposite of 2017, when SMRT showed a net profit of $26 million.

The total revenue for the fiscal year, which ended on March 31, is $743 million. Last year’s revenue was $791 million, which is equivalent to a 6.1 percent drop from 2017 to 2018.

Losses from asset disposal and increased maintenance costs have driven up operating expenses by 6.8 percent, from $785 million in 2017, to $838 million in 2018.

Concerning rail reliability, SMRT Trains have shown mixed results. Worst affected is the North-South Line (NSL), which saw various breakdowns in the previous year, most especially in October, when serious floods occurred in the Bishan Tunnel. The NSL’s mean kilometers between failure (MKBF) measurement was at 97,000 km, almost half of what it had been the year before.

Both the East-West Line (EWL) and Circle Line showed improved MKBFs. The EWL went up from 151,400 km to 171,000, while Circle Line’s MKBF had more than doubled at 665,000km.

Higher MKBF means there’s been an improvement in rail reliability, since SMRT Trains are measured according to the number of kilometres gained before a delay that lasts more than 5 minutes occurs.