Rail Line Cause of delay

Under the licensing agreement between the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the service operators, SMRT and SBS Transit are required to comply with the Operating Performance Standards (OPS), which stipulates a minimum level of train service availability in any month. This is known as the System Service Availability (SSA) standard. It is uncertain whether LTA has lowered the SSA benchmark from 99.7% (in 2002) to 99.5% currently.

• A SSA benchmark of 99.7% is equivalent to no more than a 4-minute delay for 18 continuous hours of operation (a typical revenue day). This means that a 99.7% SSA can only afford a maximum of 2 hours of delay each month (30 days * 4 minutes = 120 minutes).
• If the SSA benchmark is 99.5%, it is equivalent to no more than a 6-minute delay for a typical revenue day and therefore, a maximum of 3 hours of delay each month (30 days * 6 minutes = 180 minutes).

Observations

• The East-West Line (SMRT) failed to meet the 99.5% SSA for 6 months in 2012 (January, February, April, May, June and October).
• The North-South Line (SMRT) failed to meet the 99.5% SSA for 2 months in 2012 (April and October).
• The Circle Line (SMRT) failed to meet the 99.5% SSA for 1 month in 2012 (October).
• The North-East Line (SBS Transit) failed to meet the 99.5% SSA for 2 months in 2012 (March and August).
• The Bukit Panjang LRT (SMRT) failed to meet the 99.5% SSA for 1 month in 2012 (April).

The following categories are not counted against the SSA: Cause unknown, Maintenance/upgrading, Door obstruction. But they are shown in the charts above for completeness.

The service operators are liable for a fine by LTA if they failed to comply with the OPS. Curious about the frequency and size of the fines?

Fines Report