SBS may be fined up to $1m for NEL delay
TRANSPORT operator SBS Transit may be fined for Monday's service
disruption on the North East Line (NEL).
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is investigating the incident
and could impose a penalty of up to $1 million.
An LTA spokesperson told Today: "Since the incident, the LTA has
been conducting full investigations into its cause. This is a
necessary first step to establish measures to prevent the problem
from recurring.
"If the investigation established that SBS Transit is at fault in
any way, the LTA can impose a financial penalty on SBS Transit. The
LTA is seeking to conclude its investigations as quickly as
possible."
Under LTA guidelines, all transit operators may be fined up to $1
million if they fail to meet performance standards.
The authorities have previously penalised only Singapore Light Rail
Transit which is owned by SMRT on three occasions between 2000
and 2002, with fines of $10,000 twice and $5,000.
Back then, though, $10,000 was the most SLRT could be fined. Now,
the maximum fine applies to all transit operators, and a graduated
penalty scale is used.
Factors such as the time taken for services to resume and the
amount of passenger hours lost which is calculated by multiplying
the number of passengers affected by the length of time they were
delayed will be considered.
The NEL disruption between HarbourFront and Dhoby Ghaut stations
affected 60,000 commuters, based on figures from SBS Transit, and
spanned an 11-hour period.
According to the company, a copper power cable running along the
top of the tunnel had fragmented into pieces, scattering debris on
the tracks.
Soon, the LTA will decide to what extent the broken wire was due to
operation and maintenance issues, or due to factors beyond SBS
Transit's control. Derrick A Paulo
