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Majority think MRT is not well run, and are not confident things will improve soon: Survey

SINGAPORE — A poll conducted by a market research company has found that public confidence in the MRT system has been severely dented by several high-profile disruptions recently, with 65 per cent of respondents saying they do not think the system is well run.

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SINGAPORE — A poll conducted by a market research company has found that public confidence in the MRT system has been severely dented by several high-profile disruptions recently, with 65 per cent of respondents saying they do not think the system is well run.

The findings bear out an observation made by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday (Nov 19) that the incidents have "hurt public confidence a lot".

Slightly more than half (55 per cent) rated the current train performance poorly, in the survey by Blackbox Research of 1,000 people aged 15 and older which was conducted from Nov 10 to 16 — a period that covered the train collision at Joo Koon station on Nov 15 that injured 38.

The poll is part of the firm's series of monthly surveys with a sample group representative of the Singapore resident population in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, and dwelling type, among others. It has a margin of error of 3.1 per cent.

About six in 10, or 59 per cent, of the respondents do not think that things will improve in the next 12 months, although the authorities have said the signalling system upgrade on the North-South East-West Lines is expected to be completed within this period, bringing greater reliability to the train network.

Mr Lee's comments on the MRT system were made at the People's Action Party (PAP) Convention on Nov 19, four days after a faulty train was rear-ended at Joo Koon Station. The collision — the second in MRT's 30 years of operations, with the first happening in 1993 — came in the wake of an unprecedented tunnel flooding near Bishan Station on Oct 7, which downed services along a long stretch of the North-South Line for more than 14 hours over two days, affecting about 250,000 commuters. It was later revealed that maintenance records for the anti-flood system at Bishan MRT had been falsified, with no actual works having been conducted for over a year leading up to the incident.

Mr Lee, who is secretary-general of the PAP, said on Sunday that the two incidents should not have happened. Nevertheless, he reiterated his belief that Singapore has a "first class public transport system", saying "we are not the best, but we will get better".

According to Blackbox's poll, less than half (43 per cent) of the respondents expressed confidence that the MRT problems will be resolved, and the system will become world class within the next 10 years.

A majority of the respondents (57 per cent) also felt that they have not been "kept informed and told the truth" about the MRT woes. Asked if a public inquiry should be held on the tunnel flooding incident, 69 per cent said yes.

About half (51 per cent) the respondents said SMRT chief executive Desmond Kuek should resign, while 29 per cent replied "don't know" to the question. The remaining 20 per cent said they do not think Mr Kuek, who took on the job five years ago, should go.

Earlier this month, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan told Parliament that no Committee of Inquiry (COI) will be convened to look into the tunnel flooding because the facts of the incident are "not complicated and the cause of the incident is clear".

He had blamed the flooding on "poor maintenance and neglect of duties" by the SMRT maintenance team overseeing the water pump system at Bishan, which led to a sump pit overflowing even though the rainfall that day would have filled just 13 per cent of the pit's capacity.

On the collision, Mr Khaw had said that investigation should be allowed to continue and "if the facts are clear, then there's no need for COI". But if there is ambiguity, "then we will see", he added.

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