Tuas West stations to reopen only on Monday
PUBLISHED 4 HOURS AGO
Service between Joo Koon and Gul Circle will remain suspended for up to a month
Adrian Lim Transport Correspondent
Train commuters heading to the western end of Singapore will not be able to use the four stations on the Tuas West Extension (TWE) until Monday.
While the four stations on this extension - Gul Circle, Tuas Crescent, Tuas West Road and Tuas Link - will reopen after the weekend, the authorities will keep service between Joo Koon and Gul Circle stations suspended for up to a month.
The move comes as the authorities continue investigations into Wednesday’s SMRT train collision at Joo Koon following a signalling glitch, which left 36 people injured.
The debacle is the latest in a slew of rail woes, following last month’s MRT tunnel flooding. Delays also struck the Circle Line and North East Line on Wednesday and yesterday, respectively.
During the suspension of service on the TWE, bus services will be provided for commuters travelling on this section of the East-West Line.
Come Monday, those who have to break up their journey by taking a bus bridging service between Joo Koon and Gul Circle will not be charged for a separate trip when they rejoin the train network.
As many as 100,000 commuters who use the 7.5km extension that opened in June may be affected.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA), in a statement yesterday, said that after suspending service on the Tuas West Extension (TWE), French firm Thales found that both the new communications-based train control system on the TWE and the old fixed-block signalling system used on the rest of the East-West Line were safe for operation.
Thales is providing the new signalling system which is already fully operational on the North-South Line and allows for trains to run at shorter intervals.
“Given this finding, the LTA and SMRT have decided to isolate for up to one month the operations of the TWE, which runs on the new signalling system, from the rest of the East-West Line, which runs on the old signalling system,” said LTA.
The collision had occurred when a train passed a faulty circuit as it was transitioning between the two signalling systems. The train gave out the wrong information to the one behind, which then lurched forward upon misreading the distance between itself and the stationary train.
Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said yesterday: “Although Thales is confident, I am disturbed by the finding that a critical safety software could be disabled by a defective trackside device. Until this concern is fully addressed, we should not resume the link between Tuas West Extension and the rest of the East-West Line.
“I have told the team to keep separating the two sections of EWL, if need be, until the entire EWL is ready to run on the new signalling system. This way, we avoid having trains transiting from one signalling system to another with its attendant safety risk.”
Assistant Professor Andrew Ng, of the Singapore Institute of Technology’s engineering cluster, said isolating the two signalling systems was the “right move”. He said: “This isolation is not sustainable in the long run, as commuters will want to have a seamless journey. But it is understandable that investigations have to be carried out.”
continue reading here :
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapor...only-on-monday
No matter what I am still very concerned about the safety of our mrt network systems . I wonder what Mr Khaw will do if there is another incident ? Can he assure us that the mrt will be SAFE to travel ? Can he also assure us the commuters that we can enjoy a safe and reliable mrt ride to our destinations ?
Netizens fume over Shanmugam’s remarks that Khaw has improved public transport system
November 16, 20174415
Law Minister K. Shanmugam’s statement on yesterday’s MRT collision has attracted widespread criticism from netizens online, who fumed over Shanmugam’s remarks that Khaw has improved public transport here.
Two MRT trains collided at Joo Koon station yesterday morning, causing at least 29 people to sustain injuries. At a joint conference called to explain preliminary findings on the collision contact between two trains, SMRT and LTA revealed that the “inadvertent” disabling of a software protection feature caused one train to hit another stalled train at Joo Koon station.
Acknowledging that the “recent MRT related issues have sorely tested the public mood,” the Law Minister said in a Facebook post late last night, “People naturally ask why these problems are recurring. They are fed up, despite the overall improvement in transport.”
He also lent his support to Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan. Asserting that it “has been a tough 2 years for Boon Wan,” Shanmugam vouched that he has every confidence that Khaw will “sort things out” and “deal with the challenges.”
Netizens weren’t too pleased with the Law Minister’s support of Khaw and indicated that it is easy for him to vouch for Khaw when he doesn’t have to rely on the problematic MRT system to commute everyday:
continue reading here :
BREAKING: Tuas West Link extension isolated for up to one month as more details of train collision emerge
November 16, 2017
Further investigations conducted on a segment of the East-West line, following the train collision at Joo Koon station yesterday, have revealed that the software glitch that cause the two trains to collide arose because the faulty train was “transiting between the old and new signalling systems.”
This is according to Land Transport Authority (LTA)’s latest statement on the matter, late this evening, in which it said:
“Given this finding, LTA and SMRT have decided to isolate for up to one month the operations of the Tuas West Extension, which runs on the new signalling system, from the rest of the East-West Line, which runs on the old signalling system. This will enable our engineers to carry out further assurance checks together with Thales.”
In a separate statement, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said that he was “disturbed” that a “critical safety software could be disabled by a defective trackside device.”
Asserting that the link between the Tuas West Extension and the rest of the East-West Line should not be resumed until this issue has been fully addressed, the Minister added:
“I have told the team to keep separating the two sections of EWL, if need be until the entire EWL is ready to run on the new signalling system,” he said. “This way we avoid having trains transiting from one signalling system to another with its attendant safety risk.”
We re-publish LTA’s latest statement here in full:
“The whole-day suspension of the Tuas West Extension service on 16 November 2017 has been very useful for the Thales engineers to carry out detailed assurance checks on the new signalling system.
Based on these checks, Thales has confirmed that the old and new signalling systems are respectively safe for operation.
The disabling of the software protection feature that resulted in the 15 November 2017 train collision arose when the faulty train was transiting between the old and new signalling systems.
continue reading here :
http://www.theindependent.sg/breakin...lision-emerge/
Sometimes I wonder do you guys really test the new software before you implement into the system ?
SMRT commuters at Joo Koon make alternative travel plans after suspension of services to Tuas West
The crowd at Joo Koon MRT station during the second day of disrupted train services.
PUBLISHED 6 HOURS AGO
Tan Tam Mei
SINGAPORE - Commuters are relying on alternative modes of transport to get to work in the western end of Singapore, following the suspension of train services between Joo Koon and Tuas Link MRT stations.
Services have been suspended as the authorities continue investigations into Wednesday’s (Nov 15) SMRT train collision at Joo Koon, which left 36 people injured.
While free buses to take commuters from Joo Koon to stations in the Tuas industrial area are available, many told The Straits Times on Friday that their companies have made alternative arrangements.
Engineer Tsai Yu Ta, 36, said his company van would be picking up him and his colleagues from Joo Koon instead of Tuas Link, to go to their work site near Tuas Link.
He said the managers of his company are “quite understanding”.
“They have also pushed our starting hours half an hour back in case there are any delays, which is good news for us,” he said in Mandarin.
The 7.5km-long Tuas West Extension (TWE) opened in June 2017 and extends the East-West Line (EWL) further west into the Tuas industrial area.
continue reading here :
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapor...-suspension-of
That is indeed a good move by the commuters there . I think for the rest of us it is better to plan for alternative modes of transport until the mrt system become stabalise and safe . Enough is enough .
Public deserves a full account of what is going on in the MRT system
Published on 2017-11-17 by Ghui
by Ghui
The issues that have plagued Singapore’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) in the last few years are nothing new. Despite the many statements that have been made, the problems appear unabated. In fact, they seem to be getting worse.
First were the delays, then there were the train cancellations - last year 2 employees were tragically killed while doing maintenance works on the tracks. Just barely 2 days ago, a collision occurred which has led to multiple injuries, further delays and cancellations. Is this a trend that is set to continue?
Before any incident can be satisfactorily resolved, the cause of the problem has first got to be identified. Any measures taken will be futile if the root of the issue is not first uncovered and dealt with. Glossing over an existing problem will only create a ticking time bomb.
Firstly, let us talk about the subject of transparency. In the wake of the collision, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and SMRT issued a joint statement stating that two trains “came into contact” and that “23 passengers and 2 SMRT staff sustained light to moderate injuries”.
Is this an accurate account of what has occurred or is it an attempt to downplay the gravity of the incident in the hopes that it will die down?
Major media outlets such as CNA are calling it a “collision” - which really, it is! Why are they using words like “came into contact” which makes it seems like nothing more than a ‘car bumper kiss’? By its own admission, 25 people were injured. If it were merely two trains coming “into contact”, would there be injuries at all? A passenger on the train has written in to give his account of what has happened which certainly sounds a lot more serious than the statement is letting on.
continue reading here :
https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...he-mrt-system/
The question here is why Mr Khaw and the government do not want to set up an Independent committee of inquiry to solve the problems once and for all. It seemed that Mr Khaw and LTA is reacting to incidents once it occurred . Everyone knows that there is indeed something wrong with your mrt system .
Why is the Prime Minister Silent?
Protected November 17th, 2017 | Author: Contributions
The whole country is talking about the SMRT issues yet there’s not a word from the Prime Minister. The longer he stays silent, the more obvious it is that he is abdicating his authority and leadership.
PM Lee has to come out and tell us what he thinks and feels. We need to know what concerns him most about the situation and what he has done or intends to do about it.
Has he had a private talk with Khaw Boon Wan – like he had one with Wong Kan Seng after the Mas Selamat escape. What is the breaking point, the point at which the Transport Minister has to be held accountable. One more year of failures? 2 years? 3 years?
Or are Ministers untouchables?
We have the question of deep-seated cultural issues which seem to emanate from top down at SMRT. How is this reflective of the PAP government? Is the PM concerned there are cultural issues with other government agencies? Does this point to a decline in the standards of the PAP government, such that systemic and systematic failures become the new normal?
What is the PM’s end message to Singaporeans? Be patient and allow for more time for the problems to be solved? Be angry and show their displeasure? Be nonchalant because such problems are to be expected?
continue reading here :
Discipline, experience the secret to Taipei Metro’s success
Taipei Metro enjoys a customer satisfaction level of more than 95%. (Photo by Chao Fan-hao)
By Victoria Jen
17 Nov 2017 07:58PM (Updated: 17 Nov 2017 09:57PM)
TAIPEI: Having experienced employees and discipline in maintenance operation procedures are some of the reasons for Taipei Metro’s success, according to officials who work on the subway system.
Hailed as one of the most reliable subway systems in the world, the metro has won praise from Singapore’s Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan, who said last Tuesday (Nov 7) that Singapore transport operator SMRT had invited a team of experts from Taipei Metro to conduct a review on its own operations.
Led by its vice president, a group of Taipei Metro experts will look into SMRT’s operations and help flush out problems that have recently led to a series of incidents on Singapore’s rail system.
These include a train collision at Joo Koon MRT station on Wednesday in which 36 people were injured, as well as a tunnel flooding incident last month that caused massive service disruption.
With 117 stations, Taiwan’s mass rapid transit system criss-crosses cities including Taipei, New Taipei and Taoyuan, transporting more than two million people every day.
It has a punctuality rate of close to 100 per cent, reporting fewer than 30 delays exceeding five minutes a year.
“We always plan ahead of all the maintenance operation procedures for every system, and execute thoroughly in order to ensure the system can operate smoothly, ” said B C Yen, president of Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation.
This requires proper training for maintenance staff, as well as strict controls on system parts thorough execution of construction works and material supplies and qualities in order to maintain the system’s stability, he added.
The metro system has nearly 2,000 workers in charge of maintenance alone. It usually takes about an average of two minutes to resolve problems that occur (except for major issues).
Operations Control Centre deputy manager Juan Szu-kang said the transport operator has also developed more than 100 standard operating procedures to handle all types of incidents.
The operations control centre is the “brain” of Taipei Metro, which transports more than 2 million passengers a day. (Photo: Chao Fan-hao)
Normally when a problem occurs, the affected station will immediately alert the operations control centre. The centre will then instruct station staff on how to fix the problem, and the public will be informed within five minutes should the problem lead to delays.
However in the case of a train being stuck due to technical issues, the centre will immediately instruct the station to open a single lane for the train to operate in both directions.
At the same time, buses will be dispatched to transport passengers, said Mr Juan.
There are also specific procedures for dealing with other issues including if a passenger jumps onto the railway, he added.
“EVERYBODY HERE IS VERY EXPERIENCED”: OFFICIAL
Employees are able to respond so quickly to incidents because they are experienced, said Mr Yen.
Read more at
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...uccess-9416472
management also plays a crucial part in any organization .
SMRT’s lowest tender system is to blame for frequent train breakdowns: former presidential candidate contends
November 17, 2017
Former presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian has suggested that SMRT’s tender system may be to blame for the frequent breakdowns plaguing Singapore’s public transport system, in a Facebook post uploaded in the wake of the Joo Koon MRT collision earlier this week:
“I met an engineer who has been in the contracting business for two decades. He also provide cable testing services. I asked him about his view on the frequent MRT breakdowns and if his business involve the testing of cables in the MRT system.
“He was very convinced in his reply, He said: The problem is with our tender system. We get various contractors to tender different parts of the MRT system. All the systems need to interact with each other.
“Under the tender system, the award is usually given to the lowest tender. Although the government has introduced the two envelop system, it does not work.
“He explained that the two envelop system requires the award committee to evaluate the tenders based on quality before they consider the price. He said that in practice, it is difficult for the award committee to award the work to a bidder quoting a higher price.
“The winning contractor may be squeezed as their bid has a low margin. They may resort to buying lower quality materials or using unskilled workers. This has led to quality issues.
“I agree with his view. Another engineer, who worked in the marine industry, said that it is important to have a quality audit plan that is carried out rigorously. He suspected that this was not done with SMRT.
“For many years, I have seen the weakness of the tender system. I believe that there is a better way to award the project to the contractor that does not involve competitive tendering. I will write about it in a separate article.
“We are now seeing the outcome of the weakness of the tender system. The cost of this bad practice is much higher than most people had anticipated.”
In a subsequent Facebook post, Tan introduced an alternative tender system idea:
“For the past two decades, I have taken a view that the competitive tender system is a bad system. The principal may get a lower price but the contractor may cut corners and provide inferior material and workmanship to keep a profit.
continue reading here :
http://www.theindependent.sg/smrts-l...date-contends/
Which is more important : profits or the safety of your commuters ???
People frustrated by incidents on public transport system: PM Lee
It will take time to improve the train system, and there will be more hurdles to clear along the way, said PM Lee.
19 Nov 2017 12:08PM (Updated: 19 Nov 2017 12:50PM)
SINGAPORE: There are lessons to be learned from the recent problems on the MRT network and the causes need to be established so that things can be put right.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said this on Sunday (Nov 19) at the People’s Action Party’s convention, which was held at Big Box in Jurong.
“We have made progress, but there have been setbacks,” said Mr Lee, pointing to the train collision last week at Joo Koon station which left 36 people injured, and October’s flooding in a tunnel from Bishan to Braddell MRT stations which resulted in the suspension of services for about 20 hours.
People are frustrated and worried by such incidents and “understandably so”, said Mr Lee.
He said that improving train reliability is a very complicated problem, but the organisations need to be strengthened to deliver consistent high performance.
Mr Lee said that Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan and his team in the Ministry of Transport and Land Transport Authority “are extremely disappointed with the recent incidents”, which is a sentiment shared by the train operators and their workers on the ground.
And while efforts to improve the train network are showing results, it doesn’t feel like that to the public, said Mr Lee. A key reason for that is that major incidents hurt public confidence a lot.
In his speech, Mr Lee said that Mr Khaw has one of the toughest jobs in Cabinet: “I want Boon Wan and his team to know that they have our full support and confidence,” he said, to applause from the PAP members.
Read more at
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...pm-lee-9419874
Finally he talks on the mrt issue. So long how are we going to have to wait until things improved ? Or you want to wait until there is another serious incident than you take action ? Will you and your minister take responsibility if a serious incident happens ? Still want to vote for PAP ?
Khaw Boon Wan has “our full support and confidence” – PM Lee says at PAP Convention 2017
November 19, 2017
Opining that Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan has one of the toughest jobs in Cabinet, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong asserted this morning that Khaw has the People’s Action Party’s full support and confidence, to applause from other party members:
“I want Boon Wan and his team to know that they have our full support and confidence.”
The head of government was speaking at this year’s PAP convention, held at the Big Box in Jurong this morning.
here are lessons to be learned from the recent problems on the MRT network and the causes need to be established so that things can be put right.
Pointing to the train collision at Joo Koon station earlier this week that caused at least 36 people to sustain injuries and the MRT tunnel flooding incident last month that caused a 20-hour service disruption, PM Lee said: “We have made progress, but there have been setbacks.”
PM Lee revealed that Khaw and his team are “are extremely disappointed with the recent incidents,” and added that improving train reliability is a very complicated problem and that the relevant organisations need to be strengthened to consistently perform well.
The PM also acknowledged that the people’s frustrations over persistent MRT issues are understandable, but asserted that efforts to improve public train transport are showing results. He added that it only doesn’t feel like results are being achieved because major incidents damage public confidence:
“The best thing we can do now is to give our transport team the time and space to fix the problems.”
continue reading here :
http://www.theindependent.sg/khaw-bo...nvention-2017/
I wonder why the PM and PAP don’t want to set up an independent Committee of Inquiry ? What have they got to hide ?