3 MRT disruptions in 1 week caused by 'unrelated' incidents: LTA

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said that three recent incidents which led to MRT disruptions were "unrelated", based on their preliminary investigations.

As a result of the incidents, commuters on the North-South Line, North East Line and Circle Line experienced train delays on Feb. 7, Feb. 10 and Feb. 11.

According to a Feb. 13 statement by LTA, the three delays resulted from issues such as a malfunctioning electronic card, a power trip affecting multiple stations, and a stalled engineering vehicle.

While noting that the incidents are unrelated, LTA said:

"LTA takes a serious view of the recent incidents on the North-South Line, North East Line and Circle Line, and is working closely with SMRT and SBS Transit to identify the root causes and improve our incident response."

Feb. 7 - North-South Line

LTA said that on Feb. 7 at about 5:15am, an engineering vehicle broke down at a railway crossing in Bishan Depot after completing routine maintenance works.

This prevented trains from being launched from Bishan Depot, which primarily serves the North-South Line.

When SMRT tried moving the stalled vehicle with a rescue train, some of the wheels of the engineering vehicle came off the rails.

LTA noted that as per SMRT's statement, this is "completely different" from the East-West Line incident in September 2024 in which an empty train derailed while returning to the depot.

SMRT redirected some trains from the East-West Line to the North-South Line, to allow train services to operate on both lines, albeit with longer intervals during peak hours.

Free regular and bridging bus services were also provided along the stretch between Woodlands station and Bishan station on the North-South Line.

The stalled engineering vehicle was cleared by 5:30pm, allowing normal service to be progressively restored for the evening peak period.

"LTA and SMRT are conducting a thorough investigation into the root cause of this incident," LTA said.

Feb. 10 - North East Line

LTA said that on Feb. 10 at 6:08am, a signalling fault near Buangkok station caused trains to travel slower on the North East Line.

Preliminary investigations showed that the incident was due to a fault in the signalling equipment, caused by a malfunctioning electronic card.

Free regular and bridging bus services were provided between Punggol Coast station and Dhoby Ghaut station on the North East Line.

LTA said that SBS Transit replaced the malfunctioning electronic card the same morning and restored the system's operations.

It also sent the malfunctioning component to Alstom, the system manufacturer, for further examination.

Normal train services resumed progressively from 8am.

Feb. 11 - Circle Line

LTA said that on Feb. 11 at 8:15am, a signalling fault happened between Paya Lebar and Marymount stations on the Circle Line.

This caused a power trip which affected 17 trains.

However, while restoring operations, SMRT observed that the Central Automatic Train Supervision (CATS) System, which regulates the movement of driverless trains, was less responsive than usual.

This led to a delay in the resumption of normal operations.

Train movement progressively resumed at 8:20am, said LTA.

LTA said that this issue on the CATS system was last experienced in September 2024.

LTA and SMRT have been working with Alstom, the system manufacturer, over the past few months to develop a software patch.

The patch is scheduled to be deployed this weekend, following the completion of rigorous testing.

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