SINGAPORE: Red Dot United (RDU) chief Ravi Philemon, has asked how the large crowds that gathered after train services stopped could be better managed in the future?
His question is perhaps on the mind of many in the wake of the MRT service disruption along the North-South Line that occurred on Monday (June 3).
While acknowledging that the lightning strike that caused the disruption had been an act of nature, he wrote in a June 4 Facebook post that his “concern lies with the contingency measures taken in response to such unexpected disruptions.”
Due to these concerns, he has written to Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat, adding that he hopes to receive a reply from Mr Chee.
He raised the issue of few personnel being on the ground when the disruption occurred, an oversight that Mr Philemon said “led to chaotic situations, particularly during the evening peak hours when many commuters were on their way home from work.”
In addition, he also mentioned the lack of additional buses deployed, which was needed by the number of people affected by the disruption.
“The public transport operators seemed ill-prepared for this contingency. I would like to know what measures are being implemented to ensure better crowd management and smoother operations during such disruptions in the future.”
“I think commuters should not have to endure such chaos, especially when timely and effective crowd management and additional transport services could significantly mitigate the inconvenience,” he added.
Train services on the North-South Line from Yew Tee to Woodlands were interrupted at around 6:00 pm on Monday. SMRT said shortly afterwards that a power traction fault happened between Kranji and Marsiling stations.
Regular and bridging buses were later deployed for commuters.
As Mr Philemon pointed out, the disruption occurred as people were making their way home from work, which explains the photos and videos shared online showing crowds of people waiting for a ride home.
In the r/Singapore post below, for example, the post author warned the public to avoid Yew Tee MRT.
Meanwhile, a video posted on r/SingaporeHappenings shows a sizable crowd waiting to take a bus.
MRT services have resumed after a power fault disrupted the North-South Line for over 2 hours.
byu/lanjiolover insingaporehappenings
“Investigations also confirmed that a lightning strike damaged numerous components, especially the Disconnecting Switch in the power control box, causing the power to trip.
As a safety precaution, train services were stopped in both directions between Kranji and Woodlands, allowing our engineers to isolate the damaged switch so that train services could resume,” SMRT said in a Facebook post. /TISG
Read also: Transport Minister apologises for MRT power disruptions