SINGAPORE: After a week of three separate disruptions to MRT services, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said in a social media post on Thursday (Feb 13) that it is working with train operators SMRT and SBS Transit to identify the root causes of the disruptions as well as improve its incident response.
Writing that “rail safety and reliability are key priorities,” LTA added it took a “serious view” of this week’s incidents at the North-South Line (Feb 7), North East Line (Feb 10), and Circle Line (Feb 11).
The authority said the three incidents are unrelated. The incident at the North-South Line occurred when an engineering vehicle derailed, preventing some trains from leaving the depot at Bishan. Meanwhile, the disruption at the North-East Line occurred due to a signalling fault at Buangkok MRT station.
The Circle Line incident was also because of a signalling fault between the Paya Lebar and Marymount stations, which caused a power trip that affected 17 trains.
LTA’s post has received much attention online, and some netizens have praised the authority for its transparency and quick diagnosis of the disruptions.
“None of the incidents compromised safety and were quickly dealt with and adequately reported,” wrote one Facebook user.
Others were quick to applaud SMRT and SBS workers who were deployed for repairs and to assist commuters during the days when the disruptions occurred.
However, many others expressed dissatisfaction with the situation, especially given the relatively lengthy disruption late last year on the East-West Line.
Some brought up that commuting via train has become more expensive. “But the fares are still going up despite the falling reliability,” one pointed out.
Over on Reddit, the most upvoted comment on a post regarding the issue was from a user on the platform who diagnosed the root cause of the disruptions as insufficient maintenance.
Others said that the LTA should do more as the regulating body.
Some wondered whether there needs to be a penalty by way of a fine imposed on train operators when there are repeated disruptions. They said this money should be given to commuters inconvenienced by the delays, such as what Hong Kong announced earlier this month.
Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation was slapped with at least a HK$1 million fine (S$17,000) when East Rail Line services went down for more than seven hours on Feb 5, with the fine going toward passenger rebates. /TISG
Read also: Commuters upset SMRT took so long to update Circle Line disruption notice