Summary + Reader Response Draft 4

In the article “Trains on the North-South, East-West lines safe for service”, the Land Transport Authority (LTA, 2016) wrote that despite undergoing rectification works, the trains that have been in the media spotlight are safe for service. According to LTA, all new trains are tested before they are put into service. For the defective trains, immediate action was taken to prevent defects from resurfacing during train operation. Hairline cracks that were discovered during inspection were confirmed to not affect operational safety. Nevertheless, to ensure that there are sufficient trains for commuters, all affected trains were sent back, one at a time, for rectification. Stringent checks would also be performed regularly to ensure operational safety of all trains. However, LTA should have made further investigation, about whether purchasing trains manufactured from CSR Sifang, is the most ideal choice. *

Firstly, the article mentions that ‘these hairline cracks were due to localised impurity in the aluminium car-body material’, however, it fails to mention on the severity of the condition. “As one engineer put it, impurities in aluminium alloy is a catastrophic problem - in any industry. The structure may be sound initially, but its durability will definitely be compromised” (Tan.C, 2016). This proves that the trains may not have been the most ideal choice as the quality standard of the train is lowered due to the impurities in the material found in the train. CSR Sifang trains are the first batch of trains that have experienced this problem. “C151, the predecessor of C151A, has been manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Japan since the 1980s. The two models share similar designs, but the C151 has been used by the SMRT since 1987 without experiencing cracks.” (Lai, 2016). Although ‘C151’ trains have been in service for more than 20 years, it has not experienced any cracks. Whereas the ‘C151A’ trains which is manufactured by CSR SIfang has been in service for less than 10 years and has given many problems compared to trains manufactured by Kawasaki. *In this case, CSR Sifang trains are not the ideal choice as the life span of the train is being compromised and the quality of the train is not up to standard.

Moreover, the hairline cracks were not only the major issue caused by C151A trains. “On 17 December 2011, seven SMRT trains stalled on the North South Line causing the worst disruption in the entire SMRT history. The disruption across 12 stations from Marina Bay to Ang Mo Kio station lasted for at least seven hours, affecting at least 94,000 commuters” (Chew, 2015). The main cause of this massive disruption was due to the stalling of the trains which had theCurrent Collector Device (CCD) damaged. As one of the engineer mentions, “the immediate 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”. In this case, due to the poor quality of the CCD, it was not able to send the electricity signal to the train. As the report mentions “During both incidents, sections of the third rail sagged after multiple “claws” which hold up the third rail above the track bed were dislodged”. This has caused a massive disruption that proves that CSR Sifang trains are not the ideal choice of trains for service.

In conclusion, LTA should do their best to stop these incidents from occurring and ensuring a safe journey for its commuters. Although Singapore has ten of the best city train (Gwyn, 2014) network in the world, these are some of the minor/major issues that may lower the standard of quality.

References

Chew Hui Min (2015, July 8). Power shutdown at North-South, East-West lines: Past major train disruptions. The Straits Times. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/power-shutdown-at-north-south-east-west-lines-past-major-train-disruptions

Gwyn Topham (2014, February 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

Ministry of transport (2012). Report of the committee of inquiry into the disruption of MRT train services on 15 and 17 December 2011(Research Report). Retrieved fromhttp://www.mot.gov.sg/news/COI%20report%20-%20Executive%20Summary.pdf

Land Transport Authority (2016, July 06). Trains on the North-South and East-West Lines Safe for Service. Land Transport Authority Press Room. Retrieved from

https://www.lta.gov.sg/apps/news/page.aspx?c=2&id=0f8b1220-0289-4bef-99c9-b2455f17a66c#_ftn1

Lai, M. H. S. (2016, July 05). Secret Recalls: China manufacturer for MTR secretly recalls 25 SMRT subway trains after cracks found.  Factwire. Retrieved from https://www.factwire.news/en/MTR-securetly-recall.html

Tan, C. (2016, July 14). Nothing routine about MRT cracks. The Straits Times.  Retrieved from

http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/nothing-routine-about-mrt-cracks


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Commented on Jerry and Chris blog post on 09/12/2016