[ad_1]
SINGAPORE – While there is a disciplinary framework in Singapore’s transportation network to punish errant employees, including calling the police if necessary, “keeping the team together” for the benefit of travelers is more important than imposing punishment said Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung on Tuesday (November 3).
“The mood can easily change when it becomes one of penalty and punishment. And then the mood changes when everyone gets defensive. Everybody, to put it crudely, will cover their butt. And after a while, you don’t get the best result, ”said Ong, who was speaking in Parliament.
He noted that the railway operator SMRT and the Land Transportation Authority (LTA) have “reflected themselves” on the massive breakdown on October 14, which affected 123,000 travelers and left thousands trapped on trains. unemployed. French firm Alstom will also replace all 150 km of 22 kilovolt (kV) power supply cables and breaker tripping coils along the Tuas West Extension (TWE).
The 50-year-old was responding to a question from Bishan-Toa Payoh MP, Saktiandi Supaat, about whether SMRT would be fined for the three-and-a-half-hour collapse. Ong addressed a total of five parliamentary questions about the incident.
The incident began at 6.58pm with a 22kV power cable failure in the electrical zone between the Tuas Link and Tuas West Road stations along the TWE. While this would not normally have caused an outage, the circuit breaker at the Tuas West Road station malfunctioned due to a faulty trip coil.
Then a staff member tried to rectify the situation by drawing power from the Buona Vista intake substation, but was unable to isolate the power cable fault first.
As a result, the circuit breaker intended to isolate the cable fault within the electrical zone did not trip as designed. A secondary protection mechanism was activated, causing the power supply to the Tuas Depot intake substation to cut off and interrupt the power supply to the affected section of the North South and East West (NSEWL) lines, from the Woodlands stations to Jurong East and from Queenstown stations to Gul Circle.
Eventually, thousands of travelers were untrained.
Two SMRT employees suspended
While two SMRT employees have been suspended for their involvement in the breakdown and must undergo retraining and recertification before they can resume their duties, Ong emphasized that this was not necessarily punishment. In organizations with a strong security culture, such as the Singapore Armed Forces, suspensions are common, Ong said.
“Actually, it is done quite routinely as a matter of professional conduct and safety protocol. I believe it is an integral part of the professional conduct of an engineering company. And the purpose, depending on the circumstances, doesn’t always have to be the punishment. “
As 40 minutes passed before the decision was made to disembark the affected trains, Saktiandi noted that there could be “growing anxiety” inside the trains, along with a lack of good ventilation. Therefore, he asked the Minister what is the guideline for the period of time before a train is unloaded.
Revealing that the schedule was 30 minutes, Ong emphasized that it was a balance of two “nasty things.”
First, the discomfort and anxiety of being stuck on a train. While an emergency battery, which can last for an hour, kicks in to power the ventilation and lights during an outage, it’s still warm and uncomfortable.
Second, the inherent risks of derailment, with a high risk of tripping when passengers walk alongside a 750-volt third rail. In addition, there were inclement weather on the night of October 14, along with a risk of lightning.
Untraining travelers is always a last resort, because having travelers walking on the road represents a risk and must be carried out with great care, according to Ong.
The 6,800 passengers on the stopped trains were brought safely to the nearest station platform within an hour, except for 78 passengers whose disembarkation was delayed due to inclement weather and the risk of lightning.
“So it’s not an easy task, but the SMRT Operations Control Center had to make those decisions, and I think the decisions they made that night in terms of detraining were correct,” said Ong, who is also a deputy from Sembawang. .
The minister also told the House that the recent disruption has affected the morale of the teams on the ground. “Nobody wants an incident like this to happen, but when it does, we must not let it break our spirits. There are many honest and hardworking people who have endeavored over the past few years to make our MRT services among the most trusted in the world. By believing in them and in ourselves, we can stand firm, get back together and get on with our work. “
SMRT: Incorrect graphics display reading contributed to Oct 14 outage, 2 workers suspended
‘Sorry’ for the problems caused by the breakdown of the MRT: Ong Ye Kung
The power failure caused the interruption of train service on the North-South, East-West and Circle lines
