Reason Train Car at Bukit Panjang LRT Failed to Stop at Three Stations on 28 July 2016

Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether LTA has investigated the reasons why a train car at Bukit Panjang LRT (BPLRT) failed to stop for three stations on 28 July 2016; and (b) in light of reports of jerking actions on some train cars by commuters, whether BPLRT poses any safety issues for commuters.

Investigations are ongoing. But preliminarily, reports from SMRT point to the fact that the Train Stop Antenna system was faulty. The Train Stop Antenna system controls the start and stop of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) train at each station. As the system was faulty, the train did not detect that it was arriving at the three stations from Jelapang to Bukit Panjang and, hence, did not stop.

The safety of the passengers was not compromised during the incident. The Bukit Panjang LRT is protected by the Automatic Train Protection (ATP) System. This ensures that trains do not exceed the maximum operating speed of 55 kilometres per hour, and that a minimum safe distance is kept between any two trains at all times. ATP operates independently of the Train Stop Antenna system. The ATP system was functioning properly, and halted the train before Phoenix station, as it had detected another train ahead. As the ATP system is safety-critical, it has built-in redundancy. If one ATP antenna malfunctions, the back-up will immediately take over. The Land Transport Authority and SMRT are working with the manufacturer, Bombardier, on the possibility of incorporating a similar redundancy into the Train Stop Antenna system.