Train delays can't be eliminated entirely, will happen from time to time: Acting Transport Minister
In the wake of the track point fault on the morning of Aug 6, Acting Transport Minister Jeffery Siow said train delays cannot be eliminated entirely and will happen from time to time.
But some things can be done better, posted Mr Siow on Facebook at 4.44pm the same day.
"What can improve is how we get information to commuters during a delay, and guide commuters to find alternative routes to their destinations, both onsite and online," said the MP for Choa Chu Kang GRC.
SMRT had first posted on social media about the train delay between Boon Lay and Clementi MRT stations towards Pasir Ris on the East-West Line at 6.03am.
About half an hour later, commuters were advised to add 15 minutes train travel time from Boon Lay to Buona Vista MRT stations. Free regular bus services were provided.
Stomper Yeow was one of the commuters affected.
"When I reached the Clementi station at 7am, I saw a lot more people at the bus stop than usual," recounted the Stomper.
"Then I saw the app notification about something wrong with the train. When I entered the train station, there were a few signs. There were no crowds going to the side from Jurong East. I think most of them left the station to take the free bus service."
Sharing a video of Clementi station, Yeow said he was worried he would be late for school and he almost was.
"But some of my friends were late," added the Stomper.
Stomper Teddy said she usually takes the train from Yew Tee to Jurong East MRT station, where she would transfer to East-West Line and alight at Outram station every morning to go to work.
But because of the track point fault, she opted for a longer alternative route, taking the train from Yew Tee to Woodlands station, where she transferred to the Thomson-East Coast Line and alighted at Maxwell station.
By 7.17am, the advised additional travel time was increased to 25 minutes.
More than three hours later, SMRT updated that train services were progressively being restored.
"Our engineers went onto the track after morning peak hours to investigate and have successfully resolved the issue. We also deployed more staff to assist commuters and manage the peak hour crowds at affected stations," said SMRT on Facebook.
"The point machine is used to control train movements at rail junctions when trains move from one track to another. It is important that the track point machine is fully functional for the safe operations of the train.
"Once the fault was detected, for safety reasons, trains moved at a slower speed of 18kph, resulting in commuters being advised to add up to 25 minutes' train travel time."
In his Facebook post, Mr Siow said that this was the latest of a number of rail incidents in the last couple of months.
"Going forward, LTA (Land Transport Authority) will continue to work with the train operators to conduct more regular exercises on how to support commuters in different service disruption scenarios," added the Acting Transport Minister.
"This series of recent incidents is disappointing for all of us, and we can and will do better."
