SMRT fined S$3M for September’s train disruption; funds to help low-income families

SINGAPORE: The Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced a S$3 million fine against Singapore public transport operator SMRT due to a six-day MRT disruption on the East-West Line (EWL) in September last year. The penalty will go to the Public Transport Fund to help lower-income families with their public transport expenses, Bernama reported.

LTA said the disruption from Sept 25 to 30 last year was likely caused by a degraded grease in the train’s axle box, which caused it to overheat and fail.

“Degraded grease can cause increased wear and tear of the axle bearings, eventually causing overheating and failure,” LTA said in its Facebook post.

LTA noted that burnt rubber and metal parts from the chevron springs were found along the track where the train passed. However, LTA said it was not possible to establish a definitive root cause.

“LTA also found that SMRT had extended its overhaul interval for the incident train beyond its stipulated maintenance requirement of 500,000km to 575,000km in August 2022 and 750,000 km in August 2024. These extensions were carried out based on their internal procedures, without any detailed engineering and risk assessment, as axle box failures are not common,” it stated.

In deciding the penalty amount, LTA took into account the over S$10 million SMRT had already spent on repair works and on providing free alternative bus and shuttle train services at affected stations during the disruption period.

Train services fully resumed on Oct 1, 2024, after six days of repair work.

The following month, LTA announced a decline in the Rail Service Reliability Performance, particularly for the East-West Line (EWL). /TISG

Read also: F&B operators near Buona Vista MRT station said their sales dropped up to 70% amid East-West Line service disruption