SMRT fined $1.3m for trains running red lights

Of the six train disruptions from last October to May this year, two were due to the running of red lights by SMRT train captains, investigations have revealed.

The running of the red lights, which damaged parts of the train tracks, led to stiffer fines, said Mr Yeo Teck Guan, group director of public transport at the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

Yesterday, LTA fined train operators SMRT and SBS Transit (SBST) a total of $1.6 million and $50,000 respectively for the disruptions.

The fines will go towards the Public Transport Fund to help needy families with transport fares.

Mr Yeo said five of the train delays - SMRT's failure to comply with its procedures and processes and a maintenance lapse by SBST - were the result of human errors.

"So they were really preventable if the staff had actually carried our their duties with due diligence and vigilance," he said.

SMRT was fined $400,000 for running the red light last October, and $900,000 when the same happened again three months later. 

The fines were significantly higher for these two incidents than that for the other incidents, which ranged between $50,000 and $200,000, despite affecting relatively fewer commuters.

As for the sixth delay, caused by a power trip on the North-East line in April, SBST was not fined as it was caused by a passenger.

HIGHER PENALTIES

"When you have a red light, running it is considered a serious safety breach. That's why the penalties are higher," Mr Yeo said.

As the trains in the two incidents were manually operated, the onus was on their captains and Operations Control Centre to make sure they did not run any red lights.

In both cases, the train captains said they did not see the red lights, which Mr Yeo said were "quite visible". The red light signals a track crossing, at which a train is supposed to stop to allow another to pass through.

"When the train goes over, it either forces open the track point, or climbs over and damages it," Mr Yeo added.

This activates a "train protection system", which means other trains cannot travel to that particular portion of the track.

Train services can resume only after maintenance staff have repaired the track, he said.

Since the rail incidents on the North-South and East-West lines early this year, both SMRT and SBST have both "worked hard to arrest such occurrences".

Delays on the North-East and Circle lines have decreased this year, while those on the North-South and East-West lines have remained the same.

These delays were mostly caused by train door or signalling faults, said Mr Yeo. An SMRT-SBST-LTA team is looking into these issues.

He said LTA will further tighten oversight on the operators' training programmes and carry out audits and checks on their training processes.

When you have a red light, running it is considered a serious safety breach. That's why the penalties are higher.

- Mr Yeo Teck Guan, LTA's group director of public transport, on the $1.3 million in fines imposed for two incidents of SMRT trains running red lights.