'Enough is enough': Leong Mun Wai slams govt’s reluctance to tackle root causes of train disruptions

SINGAPORE: Leong Mun Wai, former Non-Constituency Member of Parliament and Secretary-General of the Progress Singapore Party, has again criticised the government’s response to frequent MRT disruptions. He highlighted its reluctance to convene a Committee of Inquiry (COI) to examine the incidents holistically and its over-reliance on the Mean Kilometres Between Failures (MKBF) metric. Leong urged that more must be done to strengthen the resilience of Singapore’s public transport system, reiterating that the continued spate of breakdowns is unacceptable.

"New normal"

In a Facebook post on 3 September 2025 titled “Enough Is Enough, No?”, Leong said Singapore has experienced at least one disruption every month this year across all MRT and LRT lines. He argued that such frequency has become “our new normal.” He cited the Circle Line fault on 1 September, the 23rd reported train fault of the year, alongside the six-day East-West Line (EWL) disruption in September 2024. Since then, a further 32 disruptions have occurred. Leong questioned Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow’s statement that “the causes of the incidents are unrelated, and occurred on different lines.” He said this echoed comments from former Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat, who had also rejected calls for a COI. “It is increasingly hard to believe that there is no systemic issue or concern with SBS Transit and/or SMRT,” Leong wrote, noting that every rail line has been affected this year. He argued that the government’s stance amounts to “managing the resulting pain” instead of addressing root causes. Leong also raised concerns over the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) 2024 investigation into the EWL breakdown, which found that SMRT had twice delayed overhauling the faulty train. Although SMRT was initially fined S$3 million, the penalty was later reduced to S$2.4 million due to difficulties in securing spare parts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Leong questioned whether such maintenance delays could be linked to other recent disruptions. The government has continued to emphasise that MKBF remains above the one million train-kilometre target.

Leong criticises govt's “over-fixated” on the MKBF metric

Officials argue that Singapore’s MRT system is still comparable to leading metro networks worldwide and that occasional breakdowns are unavoidable. Leong criticised the reliance on MKBF, pointing out that the six-day EWL breakdown is counted as a single failure. He argued that policymakers are “over-fixated” on the metric while neglecting commuter experiences and the human impact of breakdowns. As an alternative, Leong suggested strengthening resilience by developing skip-stop bus services to facilitate faster inter-town travel. Such services, he said, could provide commuters with additional options during train disruptions instead of treating buses solely as MRT feeders. “For many Singaporeans, public transport is the only option to get around,” Leong wrote. “The government must do better.” Leong earlier told Siow “promise not enough,” urging probe into systemic issues behind MRT breakdowns On 7 August, Leong had also urged Minister Siow to investigate whether systemic or cultural issues exist within public transport operators, stressing that “a promise that the public transport industry can and will do better is not enough.” Siow on 6 August described the disruptions as “disappointing” and assured the public that the “One Transport family” remains committed to strengthening the rail system. In February 2025, Leong had pressed then Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat in Parliament on whether a COI should be convened after three MRT delays occurred within a single week. Chee rejected the proposal, reiterating the government’s position from October 2024 that the LTA is fully empowered to conduct independent investigations. He assured Parliament that findings from the EWL breakdown would be made public and argued that the February incidents were isolated, not indicative of systemic failures. Since Leong’s 7 August remarks, several major faults have occurred across multiple lines. These included a signalling fault paralysing the Downtown Line on 28 August, and a power fault that crippled the North East Line on 12 August for three hours, affecting 11 stations. Additionally, the Sengkang-Punggol Light Rail Transit experienced a four-hour outage on 15 August due to power issues. In July, two disruptions struck the Bukit Panjang LRT, while the Thomson-East Coast Line was suspended for one hour following a signalling fault. In September, disruptions have continued. On 1 September, a train fault disrupted service on three Circle Line stations, and on 2 September, a fault caused a 25-minute delay between Woodlands and Yishun stations on the North-South Line. Both lines are operated by SMRT. The frequency of disruptions has drawn increasing concern from both commuters and officials.