~ By Gordon Lee ~
After two crippling train disruptions in December which affected a quarter of a million passengers, a Committee of Inquiry was announced to look into these two disruptions. So far, we have learnt worrying details such as how train operators were “not trained to deal with emergency situations”.[1]
Yet, whilst the Committee of Inquiry has just started their work into investigating December’s meltdown, over the past 3 weeks, this writer has come across at least 11 reports of train delays (minor and major).
List of delays over the past 3 weeks
Circle Line:
31 Mar [2] – 100 passengers affected for 10-28 min
5 Apr [3]
13 Apr [4]
16 Apr [5]
17 Apr [6]
18 Apr [7] – 18,000 passengers affected for 2.5 hr
East-West Line:
8 Apr [8]
13 Apr [9] – 20-40 min delay
17 Apr [10] – 20-40 min delay
18 Apr [11] – 15 min delay
North-South Line:
16 Apr [12] – 2 hr delay
London’s tube system (the oldest in the world) is 150 years old, and definitely has its own share of problems. It is currently undergoing a major upgrading plan. Yet at just 25 years old, these "fifty times in one year" events point to chronic under-maintenance of Singapore MRT system. If nothing is done soon, things can only get worse.
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