PUBLISHED ONSeptember 19, 2025 2:25 AMBYCandice CaiThe Land Transport Authority (LTA) and rail operators SMRT and SBS Transit will be forming a rail reliability task force to develop and implement "immediate solutions" to improve rail reliability and joint responses to service disruptions.
This task force will be chaired by LTA chief executive Ng Lang and include SMRT Group CEO Ngien Hoon Ping, SBS Transit Group CEO Jeffrey Sim as well as technical specialists drawn from across the rail sector, according to a joint statement by the agency and transport operators on Thursday (Sept 19).
They added that the task force will report its findings to Acting Minister of Transport Jeffrey Siow regularly, and submit their final recommendations by the end of the year.
Among the objectives of the task force is to review recent incidents that have occurred to identify components involved that are approaching end-of-life and require replacement, upgrading or increased maintenance.
This includes the spate of four service disruptions and delays between Sept 13 and 17, which affected train services on the Sengkang-Punggol LRT, North-East, East-West and Thomson-East Coast lines.
The task force will jointly also carry out full technical audits of the maintenance and aim to reduce the impact of service delays to commuters.
"The task force will review procedures to improve service recovery speeds, such as reducing the number of detrainments which impact service recovery time, without compromising on commuter safety. The task force will also review training regimes to ensure that officers on the ground can adequately perform service recovery during service incidents," it added.
The statement also noted that an additional $1 billion has been set aside earlier by the government over the next five years to further strengthen rail capabilities, scale up technology adoption and support skills upgrading for workers.
In a Facebook post on Friday (Sept 19), Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow noted the recent spate of service interruptions on the MRT network, "which have inconvenienced many commuters".
"I have asked LTA to share more information with the public on these incidents as we investigate them and the steps we are taking to address them. By keeping the public updated, I hope you can better understand the challenges and know that we are fully committed to keeping the network safe and reliable," he wrote.
He added: "I separately have tasked LTA to work together with the train operators to speed up asset upgrades, conduct joint technical audits on the critical parts of the rail system, and improve service recovery procedures.
"With more MRT lines today than a decade ago, commuters have more alternative routes, and the train network is more resilient. We will continue to strengthen the system, learn from every incident, and work hard as one team to serve commuters better."
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candicecai@asiaone.com
