Earlier today, during the seventh Joint Forum on Infrastructure Maintenance, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan announced that Singapore’s rail network was underway to meet its target for reliability, after having reduced the number of train faults and delays.
He added that for the first three quarters of 2018, MRT trains achieved 660,000 train-km between any delays. However, he said that for the whole of last year, that number was 180,000 train-km. The measure, commonly termed MKBF, calculates the mean distance travelled before a train fault lasting more then five minutes.
Mr Khaw added that he was “confident” that the Circle Line and North-South Line would cross that target, as the teams “have put in enormous efforts and made significant improvements over the last few years”.
He also said that the “East-West Line should also be able to catch up soon.”
The Downtown Line and North East Line, both operated by SBS Transit, have already met the target.
However, Mr Khaw also said that the entire mission is “not yet accomplished”, as there are three more aspects to be renewed – power, track circuits and the first-generation trains.
“Any lapse in execution and we will lose the public confidence that we have painstakingly rebuilt,” he said. “We must remain focused on our mission, to move commuters in a safe and reliable manner.”
Adding that the key point would be to maintain consistency after an acceptable quality standard has been achieved.
“At the end of the day, it’s to serve customers”, he said.
Mr Khaw continued, “And what they want is to move from point A to B safely, predictably and reliably, and also in an affordable manner”.
Despite Mr Khaw’s future plans and reassurances of the progress of the rail systems, Singaporeans were very skeptical and took to social media to express their sentiments.
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obbana@theindependent.sg