MRT service disrupted 92 times between 2007 and July
2009
SINGAPORE: Between 2007 and July 2009, the MRT service was
disrupted 92 times, with each incident lasting over 10
minutes.
In a reply to Marine Parade MP Fatimah Lateef on Monday, Transport
Minister Raymond Lim said in 30 of these cases, it took at least
half an hour before normal service resumed.
12 of the 30 incidents were caused by people entering the train
track area.
One was due to a passenger activating the emergency stop button
while the remaining 17 were results of equipment-related
faults.
The Transport Ministry said both MRT operators - SMRT and SBS
Transit - carry out regular preventative maintenance on their
systems based on industry standards.
It added that trains that are driverless have the same basic safety
features as those that are manually driven. These ensure, for
instance, that minimum distances between trains are kept and that
speed limits are observed.
In addition, the critical systems of driverless trains are fully
backed up so that the train can continue to operate should the
primary system experience a break down.
- CNA/vm