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In responding to a parliamentary question posed by Nee Soon GRC MPLouis Ng on the environmental impact for the construction of the 50-km Cross Island Line, and whether the transport ministry would opt for the skirting alignment at the Central Catchment Nature Reserve to cater to more residents, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan noting that the re-route will cost commuters six minutes of additional travel time, gave the following reply:
“I’m not sure if we can brush aside extra six minutes just like that because for the MRT commuters, extra half a minute is terrible. Because when the train has a disruption and there’s an extra one minute of delay, within that one minute (commuters) send out maybe 100 tweets to flame LTA or SMRT. In the real industry, they define disruption as anything that causes delay of more than five minutes, and six is more than five.”
The government has yet to decide whether to choose the 4km direct alignment or the 9km skirting alignment, the Minister told Parliament.