SINGAPORE: MRT service on Sunday for the North-South and East-West lines will start later - at 10am instead of 5.30am - after checks have been completed on all trains and tracks.
Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew told a media conference on Saturday afternoon that the checks may not be completed in time for normal service to begin at 5.30am.
SMRT will run free parallel bus services from 5.30am to 10am.
Services for the Circle Line and North-East Line will not be affected.
Mr Lui also said it's not necessary to conduct "thorough health checks" on the Circle Line and North East Line.
At the media conference, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew also said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will be involved in thorough checks of the entire rail system.
Mr Lui said: "We would have a higher degree of confidence and assurance if LTA were to partner SMRT because we also need the full weight of resources from both organisations to do this check."
The LTA will comb through the North South and East West lines for "visual anomalies", after a seven-hour breakdown on Saturday, which is its third this week.
The two organisations will work with the Committee of Inquiry for a detailed investigation of Singapore's rail system.
The disruption from 7.09am to 1.48pm happened after a third rail cover dislodged between Novena and Newton stations.
Three trains were immobilised at Dhoby Ghaut Station.
The fault is similar to the cause of the breakdown that led to commuter chaos on Thursday night.
In the service breakdown on Thursday, a misalignment between the special components - the train track and 'collector shoes' - that trains draw power from, had caused the fault.
Transport Minister Lui said there is some instability in the system and that the investigation will take time to complete.
He said this week's disruptions and tomorrow's change in schedule will cause inconvenience to commuters but stressed the need to conduct more thorough checks and pick up any incident that could be waiting to happen.
Mr Lui believed the recent disruptions could be related to the opening of stages 4 and 5 of the Circle Line on October 8.
He said commuters have to expect that it'll take months of stabilisation each time a new section of rail is opened.
Mr Lui also shared his observations of the way SMRT handled the breakdown on Saturday.
He said he took the train to Toa Payoh Station to see if the signages for affected passengers were adequate.
Mr Lui said the signs were good, while staff were helpful in giving information to those who needed help with the bus bridging services.
He also saw six buses in the queue for passengers.
Mr Lui also went to Newton Station and informed SMRT staff that more buses were needed.
He said the staff appeared "less prepared" at Newton and suggested that they plan ahead for an expected buildup so that they can quickly activate and clear the crowds.
Overall, Mr Lui noted an improvement, compared with the situation on Thursday night.
train leaving from depot at 11am and will reach certain station at about 45 min later.
No comments:
Post a Comment