Minimising Inconvenience and Improving Preparedness for Enhanced Security Screening at MRT Stations

Mr Desmond Choo asked the Minister for Transport with regard to the trial on enhanced security screening at MRT stations (a) how will the Ministry minimise inconvenience and delays to commuters; and (b) how the preparedness of transport operators be further improved in the face of security threats.

Security screening at Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) stations is not new to commuters. Since 2004, commuters have been subjected to random bag checks at all MRT stations. It is timely to review and update our security measures given that our public transport system has expanded significantly and remains a soft target for perpetrators who wish to do us harm. We are, therefore, trialling person screening using walkthrough metal detectors and X-ray machines. The six-month trial is necessary to allow the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the public transport operators (PTOs) to finetune the security operations and develop the capability to step up our response against heightened security threats when the situation warrants. During this period, commuters at selected stations will be subjected to the new search process.

Security screening will lengthen travel time. This is the balance we have to strike between public safety and efficiency. As commuters become more familiar with the screening process, we expect additional time taken to be kept to a minimum. We have chosen to start the trial over the year-end holiday period so that affected commuters can be sensitised to it before the start of the new year. We are also mindful that there are various groups of commuters whom we need to pay special attention to, including students sitting for their GCE "A" level examinations, so that help can be rendered if necessary.

The Public Transport Security Committee (PTSC) constantly reviews security threats to our public transport network and calibrates the security measures accordingly, leveraging technology where applicable. LTA and the PTOs conduct regular security and emergency exercises involving 100% checks to test our preparedness and response against security threats. This year, we conducted two exercises, one at Newton MRT station and the other at Holland Village MRT station. The third exercise will be carried out in December at Hougang MRT station. Such exercises are crucial to ensure the security preparedness of our PTOs and relevant agencies, and to help commuters familiarise with security protocols in the event of heightened security.