Oral Reply by Second Minister for Transport Ng Chee Meng to Parliamentary Question on Irregular Acceleration and Doors Closure

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.

Reply by Second Minister for Transport Ng Chee Meng:

1.     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 (NSEWL), which are our oldest lines. Commuters reported an average of 20 cases of irregular and sudden acceleration per year on MRT trains and 2 cases per year on LRT trains. The abrupt changes in speed stemmed from temporary speed restrictions due to ongoing track maintenance and renewal works. 

2.     Over the same period, commuters reported an average of 125 of cases of train doors closing without warning per year for MRT trains, and less than 1 case per year for LRT trains. The NSEWL are the only lines where the train doors are closed manually by the train captain onboard. 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. 

3.     Reports by commuters are the primary means by which data on such occurrences is collated. Every report is thoroughly investigated.