In Parliament
Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Enhanced Preventive Measures Undertaken in Response to Recent Spike in Breakdowns on North-South and East-West Lines
9 May 2023
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Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Transport
a. whether an elaboration of the enhanced preventive measures undertaken by SMRT in response to the recent spike in breakdowns on the North-South and East-West Lines (NSEWL) can be provided; and
b. whether these measures should be incorporated into the Maintenance Performance Standards set out under the rail licence for the NSEWL to improve standards.
Reply by Minister for Transport S Iswaran:
1. There were five service disruptions on the North-South and East-West Lines that lasted more than five minutes between January and April 2023. SMRT has completed its investigations into the root causes of all five incidents, and they were found to be unrelated to one another.
2. Based on the investigation outcome, SMRT has implemented additional precautionary checks on similar and related sub-systems in other parts of the line, and stepped up the pre-emptive replacement of key components to prevent recurrence of these faults. This is in accordance with the existing Maintenance Performance Standards imposed on both rail operators under their licences.