SMRT has been hit with a $2.4 million financial penalty following the major disruption on the East-West Line that occurred on 25 September 2024. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced the penalty in a media statement, adding that SMRT has also been directed to reinvest in improving its service reliability.
Penalty Reduced After Review of SMRT’s Representation
LTA originally intended to impose a $3 million penalty and issued a Notice of Intention to SMRT on 30 May 2025. SMRT responded on 6 June 2025, after which LTA reviewed the company’s explanation and challenges faced during the maintenance and overhaul of its Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) train fleet.
Acknowledging the impact of global supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic — especially delays in procuring spare parts — LTA took these mitigating factors into account when deciding to reduce the final penalty to $2.4 million.
The penalty amount will be channelled to Singapore’s Public Transport Fund, which helps ease public transport costs for lower-income families.
Mandatory Reinvestment into System Upgrades
In addition to the financial penalty, LTA has mandated SMRT to invest at least $600,000 into upgrading its internal systems and processes. This direction aims to address operational weaknesses that contributed to the disruption and ensure that similar incidents are minimised in the future.
LTA emphasised that the investment must go toward building long-term capabilities and strengthening the overall reliability of MRT services for daily commuters.
Rail Reliability Remains Among World’s Best
Despite this incident, Singapore’s MRT system remains one of the most reliable globally. Since 2019, the network has consistently exceeded the target of one million train-kilometres between service delays — a metric known as Mean Kilometres Between Failure (MKBF).
LTA reaffirmed its commitment to working with rail operators like SMRT and other stakeholders to uphold high service standards, improve commuter experience, and maintain the trust of the public in the nation’s public transport system.