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Train services between Joo Koon and Tuas Link to be suspended for at least a day on Nov 16

SINGAPORE – Train services between Joo Koon and Tuas Link stations will be suspended for at least a day on Thursday (Nov 16) so that “assurance checks” can be conducted with signalling system supplier Thales, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said following a collision between two trains that injured 29 people.

Train services between Joo Koon and Tuas Link stations will be suspended for at least a day on Thursday (Nov 16) so that “assurance checks” can be conducted with signalling system supplier Thales, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said following a collision between two trains that injured 28 people. Photo: Koh Mui Fong/TODAY

Train services between Joo Koon and Tuas Link stations will be suspended for at least a day on Thursday (Nov 16) so that “assurance checks” can be conducted with signalling system supplier Thales, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said following a collision between two trains that injured 28 people. Photo: Koh Mui Fong/TODAY

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SINGAPORE – Train services between Joo Koon and Tuas Link stations will be suspended for at least a day on Thursday (Nov 16) so that “assurance checks” can be conducted with signalling system supplier Thales, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said following a collision between two trains that injured 29 people.

“We are planning to suspend (operations) for a whole day, to give us adequate time and make sure that we do a thorough check along with Thales," LTA's deputy chief executive Mr Chua Chong Kheng told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday evening.

Mr Alvin Kek, SMRT's senior vice president for rail operations (NSEWL), added that commuters can also expect longer waiting times for trains, due to an increase in separation distance between the trains. Bus bridging services would be provided during the affected period.

Mr Kek said the longer waiting times for trains, which could increase from “two minutes to two-and-a-half, three minutes”, is already in place. This could explain why commuters have been experiencing increased delays since Wednesday afternoon, he added.

Trains will go through an additional layer of control measures and manual checks before they are deployed, as a precautionary measure, said Mr Chua.

Senior officials from LTA, SMRT and Thales held a press briefing on Wednesday to explain the incident at Joo Koon, the second major MRT collision in 24 years. Preliminary investigations suggested that it was due to a software failure, causing an approaching train to misjudge the distance with a stationary train in the station.

The East-West Line is currently running on two signalling systems - a legacy one for the stretch from Pasir Ris to Pioneer, while the section from Joo Koon to Tuas Link uses the new signalling system.

Thales assured at the briefing that both signalling systems continue to be safe for operation. Senior executives from the company said they would be looking at individual circuits where they suspect the faults could be coming from, and are also looking into all systems and software.

Following the train collision, SMRT train captains have also been told to be more vigilant, said Mr Kek. He added: "We have told our train captains to be more vigilant in (handling) the train even if the trains are driven in an automatic mode.”

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