LTA investigating EWL train disruption, will make findings public 'in a few months'

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has commenced regulatory investigations into the train disruption on the East-West Line between Jurong East and Buona Vista stations that occurred from Sep. 25 to 30, 2024.

"Investigations are expected to be completed in a few months, and LTA will release its findings to the public" LTA shared on Oct. 2.

Train services resumed on Oct. 1 after a six-day-long train disruption, making it the longest disruption in Singapore's history.

The MRT disruption happened when a Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) train that had been in service for over 35 years developed a fault.

The train damaged the tracks in the process of being withdrawn, affecting the running rails and a third rail supplying power to the train.

Scope of investigations

LTA said it would carry out "thorough investigations" across a few areas, as follows:

1. Root cause of axle box failure

LTA said it will investigate the root cause of the axle box failure.

This will comprise a forensic study into the nature of failure and identification of other potential contributory factors that led to the incident.

2. Fault detection and incident handling procedures

Next, the transport authorities will also be examining the fault detection and incident handling procedures to determine if appropriate actions were taken.

This part of the investigation will involve the review of existing procedures on matters such as how faults are detected. LTA said it will also propose improvements to fault detection, minimising service disruption, and preventing damage to rail infrastructure.

3. Review service recovery and disruption mitigation efforts

Lastly, LTA will also be reviewing the "service recovery and disruption mitigation efforts" in place.

Factors such as timeliness of responses, effectiveness of announcements, crowd management and the speed at which bus bridging services are deployed are among areas that will be reviewed.

Expert advisory panel formed

LTA will also appoint an Expert Advisory Panel (EAP) to review the findings and advise on technical matters.

The panel of six will be chaired by Malcolm Dobell, former Head of Train Systems for London Underground.

It includes experts from Singapore and overseas with backgrounds in fields like rail operations and maintenance, engineering and train design, and mechanical engineering.

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Top image by Mothership and LTA