MRT/LRT Disruption/ Breakdown Discussion Thread (compiled)

[Tsumetai]

Hi everyone, yesterday, I took the mrt train from Jurong east at 6.30pm and it stopped at dover mrt station due to a technical fault. It was at the dover station for at least 15 mins, and then proceeded to move like a tortoise to buona vista station. Then the operator announced that this train will be delayed due to a technical fault and the train was stopped at buona vista station for another 10mins. When it reached queenstown mrt station, it was already 7.30pm. In normal times, at 7.15pm, I should be at tanah merah mrt station. I was in very bad bood because I had to meet a friend at tanah merah mrt stationa and I hv to cancel the appt.

[Guest sixtynine]

hmmm...and your purpose of writing is.......

[orochi98]

Hi everyone, yesterday, I took the mrt train from Jurong east at 6.30pm and it stopped at dover mrt station due to a technical fault. It was at the dover station for at least 15 mins, and then proceeded to move like a tortoise to buona vista station. Then the operator announced that this train will be delayed due to a technical fault and the train was stopped at buona vista station for another 10mins. When it reached queenstown mrt station, it was already 7.30pm. In normal times, at 7.15pm, I should be at tanah merah mrt station. I was in very bad bood because I had to meet a friend at tanah merah mrt stationa and I hv to cancel the appt.

So sorry for your ordeal. The SMRT should have at least change to a new train or something. Anyway i had a few bad experiences with SMRT too. There were a couple of times the train did not stop at Yishun and Toa Payoh. The door did not open and then just proceeded to another station. It causes inconvenience and some are furious. And the SMRT people did not even make an announcement or apologize for that.

[Guest guest]

hmmm...and your purpose of writing is.......

if ever there is a breakdown in train. try to make full use of the time. am sure thre r gay in the train,try walking from one end to the other searching for yr type of guys, u might never know this fate might bring u happiness . cruise in the mrt trian

[Panda_9791]

Aiyah, that's the life of taking public transport mah... there's nothing much we can do... But no worries, Big Brother (SLA) won't let SMRT go off easily... they will definitely smacked SMRT with a fat fine... hehehe

[Guest sixtynine]

try walking from one end to the other

BTW, he mentioned it was 6.30pm and it should be a peak period after office hours.. Cannot walk one end to another end unless you want to squeeze in between and want to purposely 'feel' those guys..hehehe..

[jtsc]

Aiyah, that's the life of taking public transport mah... there's nothing much we can do... But no worries, Big Brother (SLA) won't let SMRT go off easily... they will definitely smacked SMRT with a fat fine... hehehe

I think you mean LTA.

[Guest zeno]

Met Mark Zee, the channel 5 actor in the train once when the train was stuck for about 15 mins. He was so cute looking i can,t help staring at him.

[Panda_9791]

I think you mean LTA.

Opps, yes, its LTA... Paiseh... me in property line, so SLA is always on my mind...

[mature30]

Hi everyone, yesterday, I took the mrt train from Jurong east at 6.30pm and it stopped at dover mrt station due to a technical fault. It was at the dover station for at least 15 mins, and then proceeded to move like a tortoise to buona vista station. Then the operator announced that this train will be delayed due to a technical fault and the train was stopped at buona vista station for another 10mins. When it reached queenstown mrt station, it was already 7.30pm. In normal times, at 7.15pm, I should be at tanah merah mrt station. I was in very bad bood because I had to meet a friend at tanah merah mrt stationa and I hv to cancel the appt.

There should be some remedialaction being taken.

[Guest :-)]

Funny title for the topic, first glance it almost look like....

Suck In Mrt Train For 1 Hour

Hmmmm.... that would be a more interesting topic!

[Guest Guest]

if kenna stuck and late, TAKE CAB lor...u no money??

[Guest guest]

if kenna stuck and late, TAKE CAB lor...u no money??

stuck in between clementi and jurong east in the middle. how to get out ? no emergency door . u jump i jump .no fire so no need to jump.hehe, really got fire u be the first to jump ,

[dienasaw]

if kenna stuck and late, TAKE CAB lor...u no money??

it's not a question of money. you expect the mrt people to have systems in place for such situations, especially when it claims or strives to be world-class.

[Guest Guest]

ok TS said the train got stopped at BV right? then drop from there take taxi.

oh ya world class syetm cannot fail? LOL...i buy toyota cannot fail coz it is toyota supposed to be failure.

sinkaporeans cannot accept failure...

[dienasaw]

ok TS said the train got stopped at BV right? then drop from there take taxi.

oh ya world class syetm cannot fail? LOL...i buy toyota cannot fail coz it is toyota supposed to be failure.

sinkaporeans cannot accept failure...

and sinkagoreans like you can't read... or you come from a place so used to system failures.

i did not say it can't fail. what is expected is when it does fail, a system would be in place to quickly remedy the situation, get it fixed quickly or arrange back-up transportation to assist its customers. but recent experiences have shown us that sometimes, it is not the system that fails us but the people tasked to manage the system... either they are new or complacent.

[Guest dumb dumb]

and sinkagoreans like you can't read... or you come from a place so used to system failures.

i did not say it can't fail. what is expected is when it does fail, a system would be in place to quickly remedy the situation, get it fixed quickly or arrange back-up transportation to assist its customers. but recent experiences have shown us that sometimes, it is not the system that fails us but the people tasked to manage the system... either they are new or complacent.

you talk like you run the system very well? how do you know that the system can get fixed so easily as 1 2 3? get alternate transport if MRT breaks down, is mrt the only means of transport in singapore?

[dienasaw]

you talk like you run the system very well? how do you know that the system can get fixed so easily as 1 2 3? get alternate transport if MRT breaks down, is mrt the only means of transport in singapore?

thank you for reiterating what i wrote.

[UFO]

Aiyo.... Singapore Public Tranportations not bad liao wor.... everywhere aircon... clean and nice nice... Till u come to London and some europe countries then u know... London's transportations are the worst... All the public transport do not have air-con.. can die especially summer... (I got stuck in the underground for an hour also and was summer time , packed with people) Always signal failure.... waiting for the next train to leave the station are their common excuses for being stuck!!! The train never arrive on time even it show the train is due to the station.Very dirty also.. newspaper everywhere (No need to buy newspaper) drinking bottles... food wraps.... ppl got drank everynight especially weekends.. Worst of all, the driver (especially bus driver) change their shift half way the journey.. got to wait for the next driver or ask to get down and wait for the next bus!!! One more thingy... THEY LOVE TO GO ON STRIKE!!! (especially Tube Driver) 2 -3 times a year!!! Strike for nothing even! I Couldn't go to school 3 days because of the last strike!!! Singapore Transports very good liao bah!!! Really appreciate wor!!!

p/s: Dun ask me to take cab!!! Very Expensive!!! I once paid £50 for cab fare.. (Like from hougang to Orchard) It was my first and also last liao!!!! Heart pain!!!

Edited September 6, 2008 by Walfred

[jazz]

Aiyah, that's the life of taking public transport mah... ... .... ...

Ai yoh... Driving also got driving problems lor.....!

That morning on CTE towards town (late morning), accident occupying 2 lanes (Lane 1 and 2) and only 1 lane passable.

That same day evening, along CTE towards AMK, FLOOD affecting 2 lanes (Lane 2 and 3) and AGAIN, only 1 lane passable.

In total, wasted almost 2 hours in jam :swear:

But, that's life...

[Guest passerby]

agreed singapore smrt is world class compared to london... then again i doubt any developed countries could have worse transport...

i have yet to come across a single day when some part of the network is not down to some poor excuse...

[xiix]

Aiyo.... Singapore Public Tranportations not bad liao wor.... everywhere aircon... clean and nice nice... Till u come to London and some europe countries then u know... London's transportations are the worst... All the public transport do not have air-con.. can die especially summer... (I got stuck in the underground for an hour also and was summer time , packed with people) Always signal failure.... waiting for the next train to leave the station are their common excuses for being stuck!!! The train never arrive on time even it show the train is due to the station.Very dirty also.. newspaper everywhere (No need to buy newspaper) drinking bottles... food wraps.... ppl got drank everynight especially weekends.. Worst of all, the driver (especially bus driver) change their shift half way the journey.. got to wait for the next driver or ask to get down and wait for the next bus!!! One more thingy... THEY LOVE TO GO ON STRIKE!!! (especially Tube Driver) 2 -3 times a year!!! Strike for nothing even! I Couldn't go to school 3 days because of the last strike!!! Singapore Transports very good liao bah!!! Really appreciate wor!!!

p/s: Dun ask me to take cab!!! Very Expensive!!! I once paid £50 for cab fare.. (Like from hougang to Orchard) It was my first and also last liao!!!! Heart pain!!!

I concur! However, sometimes the 'unexplained' breakdown is because of people committing suicide by hurling themselves on to the track. And sometimes it's things like lint caught on the tracks, mice (I am sure you've see alot of them) kena eletrocuted or died on the track, water bottle stuck on track etc etc and it will all lead to a breakdown of service. One thing you do need to bear in mind though is that the London Tube was built in the Victorian era and since, the corrupt and useless government has done nothing to improve it. BTW, only London's Tube is shit, most EU's underground wont' cost you a right testicle and is not too bad.

I disagree that SMRT is brillant thought. As compared to Hong Kong's MTR, SMRT is shit. Why? Cos in HK, MTR DO NOT use public funds for tunnelling and station building costs, which is why it is slightly pricer. SMRT and the other useless operators are merely that: operators and have no righ to keep upping its price for no apparent reason other than profiteering. I hope this will enlighten some of our readers here about the gross inadequacies of SMRT.

[happy.99]

Train pricing is not set by the operators.

[Guest Guest]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1189156/1/.html

NEL's Dhoby Ghaut-HarbourFront service disrupted till further notice

SINGAPORE: Resumption of MRT services between Dhoby Ghaut and HarbourFront stations on the North East Line will be delayed till further notice.

Earlier, public announcements at the affected train stations had said that services would resume at 5.00pm.

SBS Transit said its engineers have gotten the two connecting cables back up and had started testing the system for service resumption.

SBS Transit's senior vice president of Corporate Communications, Ms Tammy Tan said as the engineers were doing their final checks, they found a new problem relating to electricity insulation.

"This problem had not been present before and we are now working to get it resolved. As a result, service resumption is expected to be delayed again," she said.

"We are extremely sorry to all commuters for this and realise that this second delay will no doubt cause even more inconvenience and frustration. But we have to ensure that the system is operationally sound before giving the go-ahead for service resumption."

The rail operator promised to update commuters once it gets a clearer picture of the situation.

Train services were disrupted early Thursday due to a power supply problem in the tunnel at Outram Park Station.

During a regular nightly maintenance scheduled at 5.00am, the company discovered that one of the connecting cables of the overhead power supply located south of Outram Park station had snapped.

SBS Transit commenced repair work immediately, but as extensive work had to be done, normal service operations at the five stations between Dhoby Ghaut and HarbourFront had to be disrupted.

Twenty-five engineers are now trying to resolve the problem.

The train operator deployed 59 free shuttle buses and 63 goodwill ambassadors to help commuters.

SBS Transit and the Land Transport Authority will be holding a media conference at 4.00pm to give an account of the service disruption.

- CNA/cc

==================

With Ministers and civil servants like that who needs terrorists to do the job?

MRT needs a complete overhaul.

Spend lah, spend $100 billion on buses!

[Rhyn Chan]

Before we jump into this topic,

DO TAKE NOTE.

SBS and SMRT are entirely two different companies that are providing transportation services in Singapore. GET THIS CLEAR.

This is the first time the NEL Line experienced such an event. SMRT breaking down and SBS breaking down are two mutually exclusive events.

SMRT owns every other line except the NEL Line.

Let it be, everyone makes mistakes. Nothing is perfect.

Voicing out now isn't going to make an issue. If it persists, then noises must be made.

[Guest Guest]

This is the first time the NEL Line experienced such an event.

First time? FIRST TIME????

From http://en.wikipedia....h_East_MRT_Line

Line Disruptions

On 24 July 2006, passengers on board a NEL train headed for HarbourFront MRT Station were evacuated after it stalled in the tunnel due to a loss of traction power around 12:45 p.m. The breakdown occurred when the overhead power lines in the tunnel were dislodged and disconnected after a faulty insulator supporting them gave way. Electricity was cut off from the train. It was reported that commuters in the tunnel saw sparks and heard a loud bang before the train halted. Passengers had to walk a distance of about 200m back to Outram Park Station as a result. 100,000 commuters were affected by the disruption for seven hours that day, with shuttle buses plying the affected sections of the line. An investigation was carried out during the period of ten months after the incident. The Land Transport Authority announced that operator SBS Transit will not be fined or penalised for the disruption, adding the fault was due to a faulty part and not negligence. Investigations pointed to the quality of the ceramic insulators made by Ceralep Sn. The LTA said Ceralep had examined all 251 insulators in stock and are free of defects. The LTA said the dislodged wires did not pose a danger to the passengers on the train, since a circuit breaker would have been tripped by the incident.

In September 2006, another electrical fault disrupted train services for an hour. SBS Transit said the breakdown was due to a faulty electrical relay, a type of switch. The defective relay led to a replacement of about 200 relays made by Relais Electroniques Deutsch.

On 21 April 2010, train services were disrupted due to technical faults with the signalling and communication systems. Passengers were informed that the trains were delayed and they are to utilize alternate means of transport. Though train services resumed after 9:45, commuters complained it is still slow.

On 1 March 2011, a technical fault with a signalling system track module disrupted train services between the Outram Park and HarbourFront MRT stations. The disruption lasted for about an hour, from around 2.30pm.

On 20 Dec 2011, the North-East Line suffered a signalling fault that affected two trains at about 7:45am. This caused a 20-minute delay between Outram Park and HarbourFront MRT stations. Two trains were stopped in the tunnel as engineers worked to reset the system. Announcements were made to passengers on its trains and station platforms along the line about the delay. Full train service were resumed at 8:05am.

[Rhyn Chan]

Well then, my bad on my misinformed information.

Nonetheless, it was 4 years before another incident happened. Who is to say that every creation is perfected?

We can't tell if whatever that happened is an oversight on their part, or negligence. What we do know is that they at least try. The media tells us one thing, but it could be another in the background.

It was well taken care of; SMRT and SBS actually did try. There really isn't any reason to shoot them down anymore than that. They are already trying harder and they know how important it is. The scale of this damage is not as severe; people can still take alternative routes to their destination, and it seems that the faulty parts belonged to Outram Park and Harbourfront areas, from what you've mentioned over there.

[fab]

In this case, could the Minister of transport/Ceo of these companies not take higher salaries than USA president?

[Guest adx]

In this case, could the Minister of transport/Ceo of these companies not take higher salaries than USA president?

not only that, they keep sucking us dry by increasing the fares despite them already being multi-million profit-making companies. not hard to guess who are behind it.

[Guest Guest]

Annual salary of Barack Obama = S$400,000

Annual salary of Saw Phaik Hwa = S$2.2 million!

[Guest Elite]

Well then, my bad on my misinformed information.

It was well taken care of; SMRT and SBS actually did try. There really isn't any reason to shoot them down anymore than that.

YOu sound like you were borned yesterday. You need to open your eyes wide, listen more and do your research. Nobody like to jump conclusion, but if you keep shitting in your pants, than you better do an overhaul and go for thorough health screening, otherwise it stinks and don't expect us to bear with it.

Let me justify my points:

In this country where I was taught by the ruling party everything must be perfect, nobody should slack, and the best must be streamed out at every level in school educations and we need to be ahead in everything at all cost and race to top of the world with spur in our hide or get shamed at national level. Than such incident cannot be excused and head must roll. We want the best - that is Singapore hardcore moto.

[Rhyn Chan]

Please, i'm being nice here. Don't need to sound so insinuating. I'm just stating my side of views.

I'm not patriotic; neither do I see a need to blow up some things. Sure, I don't read much on the news, or I'm not that caught up. Bear with me, but Singapore is a limited country.

If this is your view, then I suggest you do not continue replying me because we would be at loggerheads on this issue.

You were taught this; doesn't necessarily mean you have to abide by it.

Edited March 15, 2012 by Rhyn Chan

[gstc82]

Kool someone states Obama"s salary is 400k, does anyone include all the perks? Mrs Obama is a known fan of Jason wu n several designers. Does she wear the same branded twice? Does all those designer duds come from Obama"s 400k? This is only one of the endless perks. It's the same as those CEO who says they just earn $1 in salary during financial crisis, what what abt the perks. Our system is not perfect, at least mrs lhl do not have a closet budget the annual salary of a high ranking executive.

[Guest Guest]

[doncoin]

When a system like the MRT is used by millions of people per day, over time, it is subjected to wear and tear. The only way to tell and prevent such problems is to have regular inspections, but even so, given the length of the tunnels, cables etc. there is no foolproof way to spot and prevent issues like this from happening.

[Guest Truth]

Like most intelligent Singaporeans, I strongly feel that public transportation should never have had been privatised. MRT and bus fares are way higher than necessary and generally SMRT is doing a poor job for a first world country like ours. I'm not blaming them for unforeseen circumstances and breakdowns, but it's about time to revise their inhumane fares at this horrible level of congestion. And stop comparing with countries that are worse off, because that's no excuse for all the shit. Why don't they compare ministerial salaries with countries that are worse off then? Or compare the salaries of top management of railways in Japan with that of SMRT then?

And on top of that, has anybody noticed times when the screen does not show arrival timing of the next train, and after like a few minutes to even up to 10 mins(once I experienced that), the screen suddenly flashed, showing "6 mins"?! Shouldn't they just show the time and not keep us in the dark and pretend that the max waiting time is 6 mins(for red line I think because purple and circle lines do show more than 6 mins if I'm not wrong)????

So why why why does even public transport that is extremely uncomfortable have to be that expensive(people to whom money is not a problem, please zip it)?

[Guest Truth]

Oh and just fyi my dear BWers, my friend's father work in SMRT as just some engineer or manager or that sort. He earns about 5k per mth, and last year he'd gotten like more than 6 bonuses? Each bonus can be like one to three mths' salary?? All I rmb was that he kept getting bonus after bonus after bonus after bonus. Working in SMRT is one of those jobs that earn money from(and take unjustifiable amounts money) those in need(and the poor), and this nobody can refute(other than those working for SMRT, of course).

[Guest rowen]

Like most intelligent Singaporeans, I strongly feel that public transportation should never have had been privatised. MRT and bus fares are way higher than necessary and generally SMRT is doing a poor job for a first world country like ours. I'm not blaming them for unforeseen circumstances and breakdowns, but it's about time to revise their inhumane fares at this horrible level of congestion. And stop comparing with countries that are worse off, because that's no excuse for all the shit. Why don't they compare ministerial salaries with countries that are worse off then? Or compare the salaries of top management of railways in Japan with that of SMRT then? And on top of that, has anybody noticed times when the screen does not show arrival timing of the next train, and after like a few minutes to even up to 10 mins(once I experienced that), the screen suddenly flashed, showing "6 mins"?! Shouldn't they just show the time and not keep us in the dark and pretend that the max waiting time is 6 mins(for red line I think because purple and circle lines do show more than 6 mins if I'm not wrong)???? So why why why does even public transport that is extremely uncomfortable have to be that expensive(people to whom money is not a problem, please zip it)?

Since you brought up the topic about MRt information screen , haven't anyone wondered why MRT only installed one LCD information screen at the far corner of one platform so that when you are on one far end of the platform ,furthest from the screen you can't see the info unless you walk to the end with the info screen.

In many other countries I visited , Korea , Japan and Taiwan Hongkong, there are more than one information display screen on the dame side of the platform so that , just once glance tells you what you wanna know.

Anyone know if this is another Saw Phaik Hwa masterpiece in cost cutting or the Smrt is covering their own backside from public complaints in case , one of the screen shows discrpancy in time of arrival.

haha.

[Guest Guest]

The screen are strategically placed at both end so the crowd does not clogged right in the middle of the platform where the escalator is.

[Guest NeverSayNey]

This happened at Circle Line today (18th April, 2012), yesterday I was also stucked at Boon Lay during peak hour too.

I extrapolated from the past MRT breakdowns :yuk: and have arrived to conclusion this is all part of Government's conspiracy! As you see when you travel before the peak hour, especially before 0700 hrs, you are less likely to be involved in these sort travelling inconveniences. Observing from the past few years, the government has been trying to entice commuters to travel in non-peak hours (USING discounts for off peak early commuting), make a change by sacrificing their beauty sleep to travel early. This means that the government is using breakdowns as a way to change certain Singaporeans or demographic groups to change their daily travelling patterns, either by commuting in buses, taxi, driving, carpooling or taking trains at an earlier timing, to avoid such incidents. But, this has happened too frequently (almost daily basis), and I am irked by SMRT and SBS Transit.

Is this all part of Government's plan/ conspiracy and are you willing to change your travelling patterns, commute during off-peak hours, even if you have to sacrifice your sleep?

[Guest Guest]

Please, it's not even "on a daily basis", breakdowns are happening a few times per day!!

[Guest Guest]

Please, it's not even "on a daily basis", breakdowns are happening a few times per day!!

I agree too! As for government conspiracy, if it is true, their current plan to change travelling patterns might just not be that efficacious. In order to ameliorate the peak hour problems, there must be a more comprehensive plan to change current employers to cooperate with government to allow employees to either work at home or arrive work at a later time, not the usual 8 or 9 a.m sharp

[Guest NeverSayNey]

I took their free shuttle bus at Marymount MRT station.

[Guest MRTBoiCryToday]

3 bridging buses which can't take on commuters because drivers 'haven't been told where to go

TODAY reporter at Marymount says there's 3 bridging buses which can't take on commuters because drivers 'haven't been told where to go'. Frustrated members of the public turn to hailing cabs instead. :clap:

[Guest Guest]

3 bridging buses which can't take on commuters because drivers 'haven't been told where to go

TODAY reporter at Marymount says there's 3 bridging buses which can't take on commuters because drivers 'haven't been told where to go'. Frustrated members of the public turn to hailing cabs instead. :clap:

LATEST 30 mins ago

Yahoo! Singapore Newsroom

Bus bridging at bishan mrt. Several bridging buses waiting but commuters all packing into one bus. No clear direction or queues. Even mrt service staff seem to be a little confused.

[Guest Guest]

This is what we get for paying higher transport cost & their million dollar pay cheque.

Transport system sucks, they told us they will improve it but it has become only worse. Longer waiting hours, packed trains & buses, more breakdowns, accidents.

I m truly disappointed & disgusted by them

[Guest Guest]

I was stuck at Bishan! Super late for work!!! =(

[Guest Guest]

My Present from SMRT for being late for work! :twisted:

[Guest Guest]

Do you think there will be another MRT breakdown later in the morning on 19th April, 2012? What are the odds?

[XiaoMessy]

Everyday I'm breaking down!