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Singapore. An SMRT train was found vandalized on Wednesday morning, in the second such incident in two years.

In a statement, operator SMRT said a train officer discovered graffiti on a northbound train and it was pulled out of service. Initial investigations indicate a breach in the fence at Bishan Depot where the train was parked.

SMRT said the breach occurred at a location where upgrading works to the security measures were being scheduled.

It added in a statement on Wednesday night: “We are very concerned that despite stepped-up patrolling of the perimeter of our depots, this incident took place.”

Police are investigating the matter while SMRT said it is conducting internal investigations.

The incident follows a similar one in May last year when two vandals cut through the fence of SMRT’s Changi Depot and spray-painted graffiti on one side of a train.

A Swiss national was sentenced to seven months’ jail and three strokes of the cane for trespassing and vandalizing. His alleged accomplice, a Briton, remains at large.

In a strongly-worded statement on Wednesday night, The Land Transport Authority said it was disappointed at SMRT’s failure to prevent another security breach at its depot.

It said: “LTA therefore takes a very serious view of this second security breach and will not hesitate to take SMRT to task if investigations show that SMRT did not comply with the necessary security standards at its depots.”

It pointed out that a recent review, conducted after last year’s incident, by the Public Transport Security Committee had instituted a whole range of more stringent security standards to strengthen security in all train depots which SMRT has accepted.

Reprinted courtesy of Straits Times Indonesia. To subscribe to Straits Times Indonesia and/or the Jakarta Globe call 021 2553 5055.