Though less than 20 students sitting for the ‘A’ and ‘O’ Level examinations were delayed for their tests, a grand total of 41,000 commuters were reportedly affected by yesterday’s North East Line (NEL) breakdown, TODAY reports.
The major public transport disruption saw train services on the purple line break down for about two hours, with no trains running in either direction between Punggol and Harbourfront stations.
The cause? A power fault that resulted when a new test train snapped the contact wire of the Overhead Catenary System power supple line as it was moving back to the NEL depot.
The Monday morning blues started particularly early yesterday at 5.23am, when SBS Transit announced on Twitter that none of their trains were running at all. It was only at 7.05am that NEL services towards HarbourFront MRT station resumed, while services towards Punggol MRT became available at 7.21am.
To make up to the 41,000 affected, SBS Transit announced that the commuters who paid for their bus rides during the service breakdown can seek a refund over the next seven days. Refunds can be obtained at all Passenger Service Centres located at all MRT stations.
Recently ordained Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan noted on his blog that the ministry will be re-doubling efforts to improve train reliability. “Singaporeans deserve better,” he says, and it’s true — we do.
Photo: SgTransport via Flickr
