In the following news release, “Trains on the North-South and East
West Lines Safe for Service”, Land Transport Authority (LTA) (2016) addressed
the problems that it faced in regards to the North-South and East-West lines trains. It has also stated the
actions taken to resolve the problems and how trains were subjected to tests to
ensure their safeness and reliability. The webpage mentioned that complications
were found on trains whereby the “battery housing” flew open due to pressure.
Not only that, cracks were also found on the draughtscreen of 5 trains which
were due to errors during installation. However, operation of train services
were not affected as these problems were rectified immediately. LTA has also
stated that hairline cracks were found on the “car-body shell” which was caused
during production period. As it was impossible to repair the cracks, affected
trains that were under warranty were sent back for replacement of parts at no
costs. With a view to complete the rectification programme, LTA expressed that
they would send two trains at a time for servicing. Nevertheless, this is
dependent on the arrival of new trains along with the current ones which were still undergoing re-signalling. In order to ensure the safety and efficiency of
the services, LTA has concluded that they will work closely with the
contractors and SMRT. Based on the
points elaborated, although LTA takes into consideration to ensure the safety
and efficiency of the trains, they could have done better in handling this
situation so as not to cause doubts and trust issues between commuters.
First of all, it may cause the public to have doubts and trust
issues as based on LTA’s webpage, the news was released on Jul 2016. However,
the train defects was found way back in 2013 but was not reported immediately.
According to Kimberly (2016), she stated that: “Mr Khaw reiterated reasons why the issue was not made public earlier, saying that the hairline cracks on the trains
did not pose any safety risk to commuters.”, since the hairline cracks did not
pose any safety risks to commuters, LTA should have reported this matter to the
public earlier. In Singapore, train breakdowns are increasing (Straits Times,
2016). With this being said, commuters are already losing faith in the train transport
system. Withholding of such information in regards to the problems found on new
trains, may increase the passengers’ distrust. If the situation was not major
LTA should not have hidden this matter.
Secondly, it was mentioned that the hairline
cracks did not pose any safety problems, however i feel that it does not fully justify why it still
needs to be replaced. Based on FactWire (2016), a Hong Kong news agency contacted
a retired Singaporean subway staff and quoted: “I’ve never encountered a situation like this in all my
decades of working in railway construction. Replacing the whole frame [of the
train] - you can tell how serious [the problem] is.”, through this statement, LTA should have given a more detailed report
stating the reasons the trains are being sent back to China for replacement of
body. Otherwise, it will cause the commuters to have doubts as LTA seems to be contradicting themselves.
Lastly, tighter quality checks for the components
should have been done before installation. In my opinion, if these quality
checks are done more thoroughly, it could have minimized the problems such as
the explosion of the battery (GOV, 2016). According to The Independent (2016), FactWire interviewed former Hong Kong’s
Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation acting CEO and he agreed that the quality
control standard was mediocre thus resulting in cracks and battery problems.
Although LTA did execute various actions to correct
the problems, it was incomplete and they should have done more preventive than
corrective actions.
(550 Words)
References
FactWire. (2016). China manufacturer for MTR secretly recalls 35 SMRT subway train
after cracks found. Retrieved, September
24, 2016 from https://www.factwire.news/en/MTR-securetly-recall.html
Tan, C. (2016) Cracks on MRT trains: Khaw addresses key issues raised. The Straits Times. Retrieved, September 25, 2016 from http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/rise-in-major-breakdowns-but-mrt-gets-more-reliable-lta
Spykerman, K. (2016). Lessons to be learnt from defective SMRT
trains incident: Khaw. Retrieved
from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/lessons-to-be-learnt-from/3048928.html
LTA says train defects “not safety-critical” but ex-HK CEO says QC
of entire manufacturing process under suspicion. The Independent (2016). Retrieved, September 24, 2016 from http://theindependent.sg/lta-says-train-defects-not-safety-critical-but-ex-hk-ceo-says-qc-of-entire-manufacturing-process-under-suspicion/
Trains on
the North-South and East West Lines Safe for Service. (2016). Land Transport Authority. Retrieved, September 20, 2016, from https://www.lta.gov.sg/apps/news/page.aspx?c=2&id=0f8b1220-0289-4bef-99c9-b2455f17a66c#_ftn1
Why are MRT trains being shipped back to manufacturer?. Gov. (2016). Retrieved, September 25, 2016 from https://www.gov.sg/factually/content/why-are-mrt-trains-being-shipped-back-to-its-manufacturer
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