LTA adopts new method to count train delays

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has adopted a new method of tallying rail disruption numbers which excludes those caused by 'external factors', reported The Straits Times.

Not unexpectedly, figures collated with this new method are noticeably lower than previously, and casts a rosier tint on the system's performance.

The authority said the new method of counting disruptions excludes "factors beyond the control of the operators and LTA, such as passenger action". For instance, if a commuter's foot gets stuck in the gap between the train and station platform, or when someone trespasses onto a track.

In the first three quarters, "about 15 percent" of disruptions longer than five minutes were caused by these factors, the LTA said yesterday. For delays of more than five minutes, the LTA will also report the "mean distance travelled between delays" instead of the number of delays per 100,000km.

The LTA said that the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway and the New York City Transit use a similar methodology. It added that switching to the new method allows it to better measure the progress made by operators and regulator in improving reliability and "to facilitate international benchmarking".