Based on a similar defect rate, which is about 75 per cent based on the 35 trains delivered, we are looking at a much longer fix timeframe.
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Qingdao-based CRRC Sifang Co Ltd, a subsidiary of the country’s largest trainmaker China Railway Rolling Stock Corp, said on Wednesday that it had recalled defective metro trains used in Singapore, and the first batch of repaired trains have been back in service running almost 300,000 kilometers.
The discovery of hairline cracks on 26 Singapore SMRT trains that have been shipped to their Chinese manufacturer for repairs has raised questions on China’s ambitions to win export deals for its rail equipment.
“How will we ensure that the “localised impurity” that occurred during the manufacturing process will not happen again (” “Impurities in material” caused cracks on MRT trains”; Thursday)?
The train manufacturer insisted in a statement Wednesday that the trains are safe, but is recalling them for repairs “owing to its sense of responsibility to its clients and its products”. CSR Sifang staff confirmed to reporters that the train had arrived at the factory on June 25 from Singapore, and the reporters themselves verified this independently after seeing the trains wrapped in the same covering with similar markings as well.
A CRH train production site of CRRC’s Qingdao Sifang Co Ltd in Qingdao, Shandong province. It added that the cracks did not affect the structural integrity of the train. No cracks were found on other components of the trains.
LTA engineers and its contractor, as well as an independent third-party assessor TUV Rheinland, concluded after tests that the cracks would not affect the operational safety of the trains, said LTA.
“Under the procurement contracts, the supply, manufacture, testing and commissioning of the trains must be carried out in accordance with MTR’s specifications on the basis of the Corporation’s design and manufacturing standards”. The costs of the shipping are borne by the contractor. We did not send all of the trains back at once as they were still fit and safe for service and we wanted to ensure sufficient train-availability for commuters. The replacement of a train auto body is time consuming and labour-intensive, with each vehicle body replacement taking up to four months.
CSR Sifang said it is already addressing the issue and will make the necessary fixes at a factory in China.
Going forward, 103 more trains from this same manufacturer are coming into our fold. The rectification program will be completed in 2019.
To date, five trains have had their car-body shells replaced and a sixth is undergoing repairs.
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Over the past few days, Singapore has been rocked by allegations that a Chinese manufacturer may have “secretly” recalled defective subway trains from the city-state with the complicity of its officials, threatening to fuel popular frustrations about the state of public transportation.
