Heed lessons from MRT breakdowns

While commuters have come to accept train delays nowadays, what has been learnt from past experiences to avoid such an occurrence as Tuesday’s train disruption? (“Minister calls for probe into cause of train disruption”; July 8)

While the outages in December 2011 led to a Committee of Inquiry, the breakdowns have not ceased. With Tuesday’s shutdown affecting 54 stations simultaneously, what contingency plans are being put in place to prevent such a major breakdown?

We must address the reliability issue before commuters can switch from cars, or dreaming of owning one, to using public transport more, as encouraged.

Some of the commuter feedback on the breakdown, such as not knowing where to look for the free bus services, as well as MRT staff ill-equipped to advise commuters, are not isolated issues and have been highlighted in the past.

Besides the seeming lack of clear signs and directions again, the communication between the train operators and among various stations can be better managed within the transport network, so that commuters can be kept informed and make alternative plans.

Let us draw valuable lessons from this incident and not only appease commuters with free rides.