can't find press releases thread.
here at http://www.sbstransit.com.sg/whatsnew_01july2004.asp.
Quoted here:
The North East Line (NEL) turns one on Sunday, 20 June 2004.
To thank everyone for their strong support through the past 12
months, SBS Transit has planned a fun-filled day of games and lucky
draws for all NEL commuters.
For starters, balloon sculptors and clowns will be stationed on
board NEL trains from 10.00am to 5.00pm to entertain the young, and
young at heart.
Primary, secondary and tertiary students using their student
concession cards on NEL for travel on 20 June 2004 will also be
able to participate in a lucky draw and stand a chance to win
attractive prizes, including a top prize of $500 cash.
The one-year mark is a milestone in the history of one of the
worlds first fully automated underground heavy rail system. To
date, the system has performed very well. System availability of
99.6% has been achieved much higher than the target rate of 95%.
To all our commuters, we would like to say thank you for your
patience and cooperation during this teething period.
SBS Transit Chief Operating Officer, Mr Ong Boon Leong said: We
are proud of the achievements that NEL has attained in the first
year of our operation. This would not have been possible without
the considerable effort and dedicated work from our rail staff, as
well as the understanding and cooperation from our commuters. A big
thank you to our commuters for your support and patronage.
In the year since launch, NEL has become the backbone of travel
along the north-east corridor, providing commuters with convenience
and cutting short travel time. NELs average daily ridership has
grown by 23%, from 142,000 initially to 174,000 passenger trips
now.
The highest ridership recorded on the NEL since we commenced
passenger revenue service was on 3 January 2004, the day that the
Official Opening and Light-Up of Chinatown Lunar New Year Festival
was held. The 268,000 passenger trips made that day represented a
50% increase over a normal Saturday in December 2003.
In a bid to do something for the residents living along the
north-east corridor, SBS Transit donated its first Sundays fare
collection on NEL to the 24 Citizens Consultative Committee (CCC)
along NEL. A total of $165,000 was collected and distributed
equally to the CCCs last year to help them fund community events
for their residents.
We have also pledged our support to the community events and
facilitated the rail service to make it convenient for commuters at
several community events, such as New Year, Lunar New Year
Countdown, festive shopping in Chinatown, and the Thaipusam
celebration at Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple. SBS Transit operated
extra trips and extended the operating hours for NEL to meet
commuters needs.
