All compressed natural gas (CNG) taxis must undergo a mandatory inspection, by this Thursday (May 25, 2017) before allowing to be on the roads. This comes after the two recent fire incidents on TransCab CNG powered taxis.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said it was “concerned” by the two incidents. The first took place on April 30 when a TransCab taxi caught fire and exploded near Buona Vista MRT station. Four men, including an SCDF officer, suffered minor burns and were taken to the National University Hospital.
The second incident occurred on Monday when another TransCab taxi caught fire along Marymount Road near the junction of Sin Ming Avenue. The cabby was sent to the Singapore General Hospital with burn injuries.
Both cases involved the same car model — a Toyota Wish. TransCab operates 920 CNG taxis in Singapore, with the remainder owned by SMRT.
Following preliminary investigations, by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said both CNG taxi fires occurred due to the leakage of compressed natural gas within the vehicles, which was then ignited by the lighting of cigarettes.
All 950 CNG taxis in the city-state will need to head to an authorised vehicle inspection centre (AIC) during a three-day period ending May 25, 2017, for the inspection to ensure road worthiness.
“LTA is working closely with the taxi companies and National Taxi Association to ensure the CNG taxi drivers are informed of the latest requirement, and to have all 950 CNG taxis inspected,” LTA said. Each test is expected to take around 10 minutes.
“CNG vehicle owners are also reminded to not smoke in their vehicles and if they detect any sulphur-type odour (similar to the smell of rotten eggs), please proceed to an AIC immediately for an inspection.”
The LTA said it is working closely with the taxi companies and the National Taxi Association to ensure that all CNG taxi drivers are informed of the latest requirement.
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