Submitted by farhan on Mon, 12/10/2015 - 5:07pm
According to a blog post by
Minister of Transport Khaw Boon Wan, the Land Transport Authority
is to conduct an exercise with MRT operators SMRT and SBS Transit
this month to test contingency plans put in place following the
unprecedented 7th July MRT breakdowns.
He says that he will be present to
observe the exercise.
In the blog post, Mr Khaw stopped
short of saying that disruptions were inevitable, but simply stated
that it was important to recover service speedily and minimise
inconvenience to commuters in the event of another major train
disruption.
He also repeated his previous
assertion that "low crime does not mean no crime", pointing out
that even the best in class - the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway
(MTR) - experiences an average of one major disruption per
month.
"There must therefore be
comprehensive contingency plans for breakdowns. More importantly,
there must be actual and regular walk-throughs and "live
rehearsals", Mr Khaw wrote.
"This will ensure smoother
execution of such plans when disruptions happen."
Mr Khaw also revealed another
tidbit of information about the higher management behind the MRT
companies when he stressed the need for the top management of both
operators to be present at such exercises, which seemed to imply
that the higher management for both companies were not frequently
seen at such on the ground events.
"Otherwise, the staff may carry
them out half-heartedly, just to put a tick in the check boxes," Mr
Khaw admitted.
- See more at:
http://www.allsingaporestuff.com/article/khaw-boon-wan-admits-mrt-breakdowns-are-inevitable-wants-comprehensive-contingencies#sthash.P3n6JXS2.dpuf
