Last week saw SMRT, the major transport provider, suffer massive media scrutiny after a string of mishaps.
A Subjectif-Compiled Summary Of Events:
December 14: Trains on the Circle Line were delayed during morning morning rush hour after technical glitches arose.
December 15: Singapore gets its worst MRT breakdown in 24 years. It causes four thousand people to become trapped in trains on the North-South Line. This is worsened by a message displayed in SMRT cabs informing taxi drivers of an “income opportunity” arising from the aforementioned event. Further exacerbating this situation, commuters involved later complained of a lack of ventilation in stalled trains, and detailed seeing women go faint from receiving too little fresh air. Minister for Transport Lui Tuck Yew has described this train disruption as an “extremely serious” one
December 16 The deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport, Seng Han Thong, highlights SMRT’s need to improve its technical operations as well as its public communications.
December 17: MRT disruptions are seen again in the North South Line, ending travel between a third ot its 27 stations for seven hours. This is attributed to problems with the power rail system running trains.
December 18: The abrupt braking by one bus driver on an SMRT bus causes a 54-year-old woman, Madam Ding ,to fall and slip into a coma. Her condition is since reported to have deteriorated, due to the development of lung complications. The bus driver concerned has been suspended and further investigations are currently ongoing. Additionally, there were two-hour train delays on both the North-South and East-West Line.
Because of these events, SMRT CEO Saw Phaik Hwa has received a flood of flak, with citizens and emotive netizens expressing their desire for her resignation. This Monday, she responded to these calls by emphasizing the need for her to remain with the organization so as to deal with SMRT’s recent issues.
Will the SMRT saga continue? If it does…please, not on Christmas.
Now, lets just wait for Mr Brown’s take on this issue.
And there’s a photo gallery too!
A thesaurus had to be used in the writing of this article as there weren’t enough ways to say “breakdown”.