East-West Line disruption: SMRT to be fined $3m for September 2024 incident, Singapore News

AsiaOne

03-06-2025

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Tuesday (June 3) that it intends to impose a $3 million fine on SMRT after train services were disrupted on the East-West line (EWL) in September last year.
On Sep 25, a dislodged axle box caused caused the wheels of an SMRT train carriage plying the EWL to fall off the tracks, damaging the tracks between Dover MRT station and Ulu Pandan Depot.
Services were disrupted for six days following the incident as repair works went on, with full services being resumed in October that year.
During the period where train services were affected, SMRT had provided free bridging bus and regular bus services, as well as shuttle train services at the impacted stations.
Travel fees for passengers alighting at Jurong East and Buona Vista stations were also waived.
These provisions by the SMRT were taken into consideration in determining the $3 million penalty, according to the LTA.
The Authority explained that the quantum also weighed in the fact that SMRT had borne the cost of repairs, bringing SMRT's total expenditure on the incident over $10 million.
Lower-income families will stand to gain from this penalty, as the amount collected will go towards the Public Transport Fund to assist with their public transport expenditure. Degraded grease suspected to be cause of failure
Investigations suggest that the cause of the incident stemmed from degraded grease in the axle box, according to the LTA.
Significant wear and tear was placed on the axle bearings as a result, which in turn caused overheating and the eventual failure.
This theory is supported by the burnt rubber and metal pieces found along the train's path, which suggests that the axle box was hot enough to burn the rubber around it, causing the box to dislodge.
SMRT's hot axle box detection system (HABDS) also noted that a box had reached 118 deg C, although an error meant that staff could not determine which box was overheating past its usual range of 30 to 65 degrees Celsius. Delays in maintenance
The train in the incident, part of the first generation of 66 Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) trains, was set to be replaced by the new Movia trains that were supposed to be in SMRT's possession by March 2024.
However, Covid-19 struck, resulting in a 1 1/2 year delay in the move to Movia and a shortage of materials for repairs.
KHI trains are supposed to undergo an overhaul every 500,000km travelled and the train involved in the incident was due for an overhaul in 2018, and 38 trains that passed the 500,000km mark.
Due to the delays and the shortage of materials, however, the overhaul of the said train was pushed further after SMRT noted the fleet's reliability and capabilities.
SMRT then extended the overhaul interval for the incident train on two separate occasions, bringing the limit up to 575,000km in August 2022 and 750,000km in August 2024.
As Movia trains came in from May 2023, KHI trains were gradually replaced and overhauled -- by September 2024, 18 had been overhauled excluding the train involved in the incident.
Regular preventive maintenance was conducted by SMRT on the train on Sep 10, 2024, but no abnormalities were detected with its axle box at the time. Learning from disaster
Following the incident on the EWL, SMRT withdrew all KHI trains that had exceeded 500,000km of mileage in order for them to undergo an overhaul before they were returned to service.
An accelerated delivery programme has also been put in place by the LTA for Movia trains to mitigate delays from Covid-19.
KHI trains will also be decommissioned by the third quarter of 2025.
SMRT has also consulted LTA to utilise data analytics for earlier detection when it comes to abnormal axle box temperatures, and LTA also intends to have greater oversight of operators' asset and maintenance management.
SMRT, LTA, and the National Transport Workers' Union have also set up a tripartite Rail Safety and Reliability Review Workgroup to review and enhance rail ecosystems and engaged metro operators in Guangzhou and Taipei for mutual learning.
The Ministry of Transport's Committee of Supply 2025 also allocated an additional $1 billion by the government to enhance rail asset management and rail workforce capabilities as well, according to the LTA.
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