SMRT Gets Stern Warning for Train Leaving Station with Half-Open Door

Incident on TEL Last December Occurred After 3 Employees Did Not Follow Procedures

- Esther Loi

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has issued a stern warning to rail operator SMRT after a Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) train left Gardens by the Bay station with a door half open.

The incident in December 2024 occurred after three of the operator's employees failed to follow standard operating procedures.

SMRT said on July 29 that it has taken disciplinary action against the staff involved in the incident, and provided them with retraining to ensure that similar incidents do not occur.

LTA issued its warning after completing its investigation.

An investigation report published on June 25 by the Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB), a department within the Ministry of Transport, suggested that the incident was caused by human error.

It took place at around 6.30pm on Dec 17, 2024, with about 15 passengers in the affected train car.

A door on a Woodlands-bound train at Gardens by the Bay station opened only halfway, and remained half open when the train was about to depart for Marina Bay station.

An assistant station manager with around three years of experience in this role was tasked to investigate the door fault, but he did not find any obstacle hindering closure of the door, noted TSIB.

He was then instructed by the train service controller with around 1 1/2 years of experience in this role to isolate the door or remove the electrical power supplied to the door's opening and closing mechanism, after attempting to push the door into a closed position.

But the door still remained half open, according to the report.

At the same time, the train service controller and the chief controller with 2 1/2 years of experience released the train hold, instead of following protocols to press the command to close the train doors.

Releasing the train hold closes the train doors, but also allows the train to move off from the platform if the door service switch is turned to the "off" position.