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Khaw apologises for NSL flooding, says SMRT's Bishan maintenance team 'has failed us'

SINGAPORE – In his first comments on the unprecedented flooding-induced train outage on Oct 7, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan apologised to commuters but pinned the blame squarely on operator SMRT’s maintenance regime.

Chairman of SMRT Corporation and SMRT Trains Seah Moon Ming taking a bow and apologising to the public for the underground flooding incident along the North-South Line (NSL) on Oct 7-8 that resulted in a 20-hour disruption. Looking on (from left) is SMRT Group Chief Executive Officer Desmond Kuek and SMRT Trains' Chief Executive Officer Lee Ling Wee. Photo: Koh Mui Fong/TODAY

Chairman of SMRT Corporation and SMRT Trains Seah Moon Ming taking a bow and apologising to the public for the underground flooding incident along the North-South Line (NSL) on Oct 7-8 that resulted in a 20-hour disruption. Looking on (from left) is SMRT Group Chief Executive Officer Desmond Kuek and SMRT Trains' Chief Executive Officer Lee Ling Wee. Photo: Koh Mui Fong/TODAY

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SINGAPORE – In his first comments on the unprecedented flooding-induced train outage on Oct 7, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan apologised to commuters but pinned the blame squarely on operator SMRT’s maintenance regime.

“The bottomline is that MRT tunnels should not be flooded,” he said at a media briefing on Monday (Oct 16).

Noting that the holding tank reservoir under the train tracks has a 5,000 cubic metre capacity, dwarfing the 640 cubic metres of rainfall near Bishan that day, Mr Khaw added: “The SMRT team in charge of maintaining the flooding system at Bishan has failed us.

"It's so simple that it should not have happened...It's as embarrassing as that. (We must) nail down who is responsible. It's a localised team in Bishan. Something must happen to the staff."

SMRT's head honchos, including group president and chief executive officer Desmond Kuek and chairman Seah Moon Ming, told a press briefing that internal investigations were ongoing, and that the bonuses of the team at fault would be affected. 

The team leader in charge of maintenance at Bishan station was also removed "immediately", following the disruption which affected about 250,000 commuters. Mr Kuek and Mr Seah both apologised to commuters for the disruption. 

Acknowledging criticisms surrounding SMRT’s work culture, Mr Kuek said: “Indeed, many of our major disruptions in the past have been attributed in some part, or all, to human error or failure. We regret that this is so."

Despite efforts to change the culture, "there remain some deep-seated cultural issues within the company that has needed more time than anticipated to root out," he added.

Mr Kuek assured, however, that the rail operator would “redouble efforts to instill a strong culture of operational discipline in our workforce”, as well as strengthen engineering and maintenance capabilities to serve an ageing and expanding MRT network.

Train service at six stations along the North-South Line was down, both ways, for more than 20 hours overnight that weekend, after flooding in the tunnel between Bishan and Braddell MRT stations. The outage was one of the worst since the 2011 disruptions that led to a Committee of Inquiry.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) issued a statement after normal train service resumed in the afternoon of Oct 8, saying the flooding was caused by a failure of the water pump system at the tunnel.

At the media briefing on Monday, details disclosed by the authorities showed the extent of how poorly the anti-flooding system – installed in 2011 – had been maintained.

The stormwater pit at Bishan was found lined with sludge, despite quarterly checks.

A switch in the system that should have stopped the three water pumps from running when water levels are low was also faulty, which could have caused the pumps to overheat and fail.

The result was overflooding of a 5,000 cubic metre tank, causing rainwater that day to build up in the tunnel. For safety purposes, train services were halted and traction power was switched off. While the faulty switch was repaired, train services could not resume in the affected stretch until all the water was completely drained on Sunday, with the help of national water agency PUB and the Singapore Civil Defence Force.

SMRT also outlined what it would do to prevent a repeat of the incident, including replacing parts of water pump systems at all five flood protection systems it is in charge of by the end of the year. The others are at Lavender-Kallang, Kembangan-Bedok, Redhill-Tiong Bahru, and Expo-Changi Airport.

Maintenance checks will also be done every month now, the operator added.

Mr Seah, SMRT's chairman, said: “We will also put in place preventive measures to enhance system reliability and availability.

"We acknowledge that the recent spate of rail disruptions has affected public trust and confidence in SMRT. We are determined to make things right for our commuters and work towards providing a better service for the public."

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