Summary of article: LTA - Draft 1.

In the article “TRAINS ON THE NORTH-SOUTH AND EAST-WEST LINES SAFE FOR SERVICE”, the Land Transport Authority (2016) wrote that the North-South and East-West Lines (NSEWL) trains, that have been in the media spotlight, are safe for service.

According to the Land Transport Authority (LTA), testing is conducted on all new trains, including the Kawasaki Heavy Industries and CSR Sifang (KHI-CSR) trains in question, before they are put into service. For these trains, immediate action was taken to prevent issues with battery housing as well as cracks of the draughtscreen from resurfacing during train operation.

Hairline cracks were discovered on the car-body bolster of the train during inspection. These were confirmed by LTA to not affect operational safety. Nevertheless, all the affected trains were gradually being sent back for modification.

To ensure that there are sufficient trains for commuters, only one train was sent back at a time due to “time consuming and labour-intensive” rectification works. These replacements can be completed as early as 2019 as more trains will be sent back concurrently starting next year.

LTA stated that they would perform stringent checks regularly to ensure operational safety of all trains.

LTA could have further investigated if purchasing trains which are manufactured by CSR Sifang could have been the most affordable and ideal choice. There are many other train companies offering better and cheaper trains. Moreover, when LTA sent out the tender, KHI-CSR was the second most expensive company. 

Singaporeans rely highly on public transport to travel around. To meet its growing demand, LTA had to order new trains for the North-South-East-West line (NSEWL).  Before the purchase of the C151A trains, there were 106 trains in operation mainly from Japan (C151, C751B) and Germany (C651). The trains were fully manufactured and designed in their country of origin.

When LTA sent out its tender, there were 4 companies interested in the tender. The companies were Bombarider offering the most expensive cost, Kawaski & CSR Sifang, Mitsubishi Corporation and lastly Hyundai Rotem offering the cheapest manufacturing cost. Though KHI-CSR was not the cheapest tender, there are speculations into why Hyundai Rotem was not given the offer, being the cheapest. Although C151A has got numerous faults and defects, the new trains C151B and C151C are also bought from the same manufacturer. Moreover, the new Thomson Line trains (T251) are also bought from the same manufacturer.

The main cause of the hairline cracks was due to the impurity in the material which CSR Sifang had used for the C151A train body bolster. LTA together with Kawasaki, inspected the situation and had the entire car body changed as it was still under waranty. As the trains are being sent back to China for its bodywork replacement, older trains such as the C651 had to resume its operation. Starting in 2016, the trains were supposed to cease operation and go through refurbishment works. However, due to this incident, all the old trains had to resume operation to meet its demand. When more new trains (C151C) arrive this year, the new trains would replace the old trains and go through refurbishment works.

The hairline cracks were not only the major issue caused by C151A trains. In December 2011, during the evening peak hours, 2 SMRT trains stalled on the North South Line causing the worst disruption in the entire SMRT history. The cause of the stalling of the trains was damage to their Current Collector Device (CCD) “shoes” due to sagging of the “third rail” which supplies electrical power to the trains.

Although Singapore has one of the best city train network in the world, these are some of the minor/major issues that may lower the standard of quality. LTA should do their best to avoid these incidents from occurring again.

TRAINS ON THE NORTH-SOUTH AND EAST-WEST LINES SAFE FOR SERVICE (2016, July 6). In LTA news page. Retrieved from https://www.lta.gov.sg/apps/news/page.aspx?c=2&id=0f8b1220-0289-4bef-99c9b2455f17a66c#_ftn1

KAWASAKI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD/CSR QINGDAO SIFANG CO. LTD/KAWASAKI HEAVY INDUSTRIES (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD. CONSORTIUM AWARDED PRESTIGIOUS CONTRACT WORTH $749 MILLION (2014, May 28). In LTA news page. Retrieved from https://www.lta.gov.sg/apps/news/page.aspx?c=2&id=f0b205a6-69ab-49b0-b94d-65384ee5e5c0

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY INTO THE DISRUPTION OF MRT TRAIN SERVICES ON 15 AND 17 DECEMBER 2011. (2012). Retrieved July 3 2012, from 
http://www.mot.gov.sg/news/COI%20report%20-%20Executive%20Summary.pdf

Gwyn Topham. (2014, Febuary 18) Ten of the best city train networks – in pictures. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/cities/gallery/2014/feb/18/ten-best-city-train-networks-in-pictures

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Commented on Ruzaini blog post on 09/12/2016