UNCONFIRMED - SMRT had prior knowledge of what caused the breakdown

[Summer]

Heard rumours that there might be a mass resignation from the Board of SMRT soon.[/QUOTE


Sooner better.


all fat cats inside

 

[kingrant]

Haha..great cartoon. Tks for the post. But it should show some falling off the buildings...

 

[red amoeba]

if i don't remembered wrongly, there was once some info regarding the third rail.

when they first built the MRT line, there was consideration of hidden power rail or overhead. The hidden one was chosen because it is unsightly to have overhead wires - like what you see in Japan & France.

the MRT line has both elevated and underground section, since it is not possible to have 2 system, they opted for the underground due to aesthetics. This underground version is more expensive.

The NEL and CC lines have the overhead system I think because all underground.

===

The zarboh CEO will go at the end of the thingy...she has to go. Not now because she need to clear up the shit, at least she is the face to clear up the shit.

This episode unfortunately, has spilled over to affect the masses...unlike MSK where it is more "localised"

 

[Unrepented]

She know meh She has to be seen as clearing the shit, or at least in appearance.............to save someone's face

............ Not now because she need to clear up the shit, at least she is the face to clear up the shit.

 

[Don Muthuswamy]

The solution is to do away with SMRT as a private enterprise running public transport.Not pushing the blame here and there.

SMRT may appr Pvt only 4 wayang pps but gahment still the majority sholder.

 

[elephanto]

Bro, this is what I gathered so far.....how to handle this politically. Some have bet on the SAF scholar to take the fall.

Unconfirmed will ever be confirmed?
The integrity of 21st century PAP leadership will be tested in the light of the fallout from the recent historic GE.

Suffice to say, I rank this SMRT fiasco on the scale of the NKF debacle.

The CEO & the entire Board should be fucking replaced & LTA-SMRT taiji sorted out once & for all.

And then of course this is only intra-govt-linked-organizations politics, one wonders that extremely grand sounding public-private-people collaboration model for projects like Sports Hub would play out in real life.

The systemic failure here is the inbred pragmatic/KPI-at-all-costs/privatisation=soulless efficiency/technocratic-elitist-superiority complex culture that has evolved from the success of the Singapore Story.. a pervasion from the success formula that has now fossilized into bureaucratic buck passing.

Rear Admirer No-Porn Lui to resign? can't be. not after JUST replacing the previous inept Transport Minister. 2 strikes in a row, man, they can't take it.

Actually, if one were to extrapolate, 2 other sacred cows beloved of the ruling establishment must be re-examined:-
(1) the interest of the shareholders must be upheld above the public interest even for pseudo private corporations

(2) Duopoly disguised as competition & therefore promoting efficiency. TIBS-SBS & now SBS Transit-SMRT, Mediacorp-SPH & all other wayang managed models. Then that Anti-Competition Stat Board is set up with a dubious record thus far.
Wack nobodies like the modelling industry yet adopting a different take from taxi trade cartel or petrol pump prices crtel from the MNC Oil companies.

It is realpolitik after all, screw ideology or lofty principles, so it seems.

 

[scroobal]

Agree with you. Very similar to BP CEO who was dismissed as he could not understand the damage done and kept making inconsiderate comments that was politically damaging.

Not likely. She is more like TT Durai, unable to understand or accept that she has been excommunicated and on the way out. .

 

[scroobal]

The plan was secure western technology to build the MRT. HK MRT was not designed and built by the locals. It was the British. The HK consultants came in for operational planning.

The earliest MRT system (N-S line) was built with the help of HK consultants. There is no doubt about that. Dunno what you are smoking early in the morning. Goh Meng Seng

 

[scroobal]

I think these series of incidents involving an important GLC will motivate the Cabinet to have a re- think about privatising everything. It will also pay more attention on how to bundle companies and activities and more importantly look at the recruitment and hire of key individuals.

 

[Doubblur]

The plan was secure western technology to build the MRT. HK MRT was not designed and built by the locals. It was the British. The HK consultants came in for operational planning.

The British invented MRT more than 100 years ago.

 

[Rogue Trader]

It also highlights problems that arise due to blurring lines between private enterprise and public infrastructure. In accounting there is a concept known as the matching principle where your costs have to be charged to the same entity where the revenue is made. If maintenance works is not owned by SMRT but by LTA (our tax money), then something with Temasick is fundamentally wrong.

 

[Qantas]

Are you sure or not? LOL!

SMRT engaged the Hong Kong consultants, not the British. Don't anyhow smoke lah! I happen to know one of the Hong Kong consultant they have engaged!

Goh Meng Seng

I understand our MRT design was modelled on HK's MTR which also runs using the third rail. Why HK got no problem of trains breaking down but we have leh?

 

[maja06]

I understand our MRT design was modelled on HK's MTR which also runs using the third rail. Why HK got no problem of trains breaking down but we have leh?

QF - I'm not sure about the past, but all current MTR rolling stock employ the overhead method for drawing operating power. If HK MTR did switch from third rail to overhead it would certainly be an interesting discussion if we know the reasons why...

 

[aurvandil]

SMRT is now resorting to propaganda and funny numbers to tell us all is well. Unfortunately for SMRT, there are thousands of affected commuters who can bear witness to the truth.

Assuming that this had the go ahead from top management, you have to wonder about just everything the circus troupe running SMRT has told us. For example if the tracks had been inspected regularly as claimed, how did the joint inspection with LTA turn up so many defects? Surely these could not have all happened overnight.

---

SMRT: Hoax calls spread Monday evening false alarms

(UPDATED 1201am)
SMRT says that apart from a nine-minute delay at Orchard MRT stations, there were no other major disruptions or long delays on the North-South East-West lines during Monday evening's rush hour traffic.

It said in a statement that hoax calls were to blame for spreading false alarms about lengthy delays and train disruptions along the rail network.

"There were no long delays, disruptions or major issues on our the North-South East-West lines this evening," the statement read.

"These are hoax calls which the police have also received," added an SMRT spokesperson.

It explained that there was a nine-minute delay on the northbound train service at Orchard MRT Station at 6.46pm because a train was pulled out of service due to a signal fault. Normal service resumed at 6.55pm.

SMRT tweeted at 807pm that "train service is still running smoothly, despite a nine-minute delay at Orchard northbound at 1846."

However, the train operator's claims that all was well contradicts several eyewitness accounts.

23-year-old Tay Shwu Yun said she was one of the commuters travelling towards Woodlands on the North-South Line and was affected by evening train delays.

Tay told Yahoo! Singapore, "The train stopped at least two times. It stopped at Braddell for at least 10 minutes and again in between Bishan and Ang Mo Kio for around five minutes."

Benedict Choong also wrote on Yahoo Singapore's Facebook wall that he took over an hour to travel from Dhoby Ghaut to Woodlands.

Another affected commuter Shirin Masord also reported that his train ride from Paya Lebar to Pasir Ris took almost an hour, when the usual ride is less than 30 minutes.

Several other tweets on micro-blogging platform also reported that train service along East-West line was slow and patchy with reported delays near Bedok and Tanah Merah.

Twitter user @elizatan tweeted at 752pm, "Trains are pausing and shaking angrily. Very, very scared. You can see the fear on everyone's faces."

Another user @kennethyapper tweeted at 750pm that a train heading towards Jurong East had partially fault lights and aircondityioning.

Channel NewsAsia also reported that one of its new hotline callers, Madam Khoo, reported that her sister was stuck in the train for half an hour between Braddell and Bishan MRT stations.

Earlier in the day, southbound trains were slow and stalled at times, which SMRT said was due to the heavy rain on Monday morning.

Commuters reported that between 9:45 and about 10:45am trains all along the North-South Line experienced delays by between three and 10 minutes, with the first reported stalling believed to have occurred at about 9:45am.

23-year-old Jamuna Sundaraj was on her way to work in Raffles Place when the train she was on stalled for about 10 minutes between City Hall and Raffles Place stations.

“The driver said the train will be here for a few moments and the usual,” said the account executive. “I knew it wouldn’t be as bad as the situation last Thursday — or I was hoping — but the train only moved after about 10 minutes or so.”

An SMRT spokesperson told Yahoo! Singapore that the stalling for above-ground stations such as Ang Mo Kio may have been caused by the rainy weather on Monday morning.

“Trains have to drive slower for safety reasons (due to the rain). This may have caused the delays for the above-ground parts of the line,” the spokesperson said, explaining that trains on the underground parts of the line had consequently stalled as well.

Passengers on trains that were affected by the stalling were seen shaking their heads, heading back to their seats if they stood up to alight and making calls to inform their workplaces that they were held up.

“I’m not going to expect everything to be smooth-sailing and foolproof, and I understand (SMRT is) trying to do their best to find a solution to make the whole situation better, but on mornings like this when you’re rushing to work, the inconvenience is still frustrating,” said Jamuna.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced on Sunday that trains on the North-South and East West lines may suffer delays and slower travelling speeds after finding instances of dislodged "claws" at sections of tunnels in the city area.

As it continues investigations, the LTA instructed SMRT to monitor the train tracks, imposing a speed limit of 40km/h at affected areas where floating slab tracks have been installed.

SMRT has urged the public to rely on its offical Twitter account @smrt_singapore for the latest updates.

 

[weetabix]

Very sad , SMRT has to appeal to the public to "rely" on their official Twitter. They have lost all credbility. The spin doctors need to work abit hearder , see that they have to resort to calling eye witness accounts as hoaxes. spin spin spin , sink sink sink

 

[Fook Seng]

Surprising to hear of signalling faults on almost a daily basis in addition to the third rail collector shoes issue. Anybody has any information on whether the signalling faults have been a regular occurrence and that these are highlighted recently because of the problem with the third rail?

 

[red amoeba]

actually, I suspect the signalling faults are probably a daily occurrence, it is just that, normally (pre-breakdown days) , one won't really bother with slight delays neither would one bother to time the waits / delays - as you will likely feel, hmm..ok, it came about on time.
'
its after the massive breakdown and PR nightmare that your conscious and "witch hunting" instinct heightened and you begin to nit pick...30 sec of delay becomes like 5 minutes. And they have reporters actually timing the train journey and contradict SMRT in prime time news regarding journey time.

To me, this is wah say, now that the SMRT is down, Mediacork go in and give a few kicks to add to their agony? so, the masters behind actually condone such thing ? Which means, they want to make SMRT the punching bag for the moment.

So, CEO Saw's days are numbered, she is currently on death row, waiting for that Friday morning where the execution order is gonna come....

 

[johnny333]

I'll state the obvious, it's because Mediacock is a propaganda tool rather than an independant press that has contributed to the fiascos in Spore

If an independant press had existed it might have uncovered the warts earlier, before breakdown(s). One can only guess what other skeletons are hidden in the closet & under the carpet

 

[Fook Seng]

Have they found a permanent solution to dislodged "claws" or just applying band aids?

 

[Bigfuck]

There are other issues, and if the lifespan and amortization of the rail was considered together with economic loss to the country and businesses you know the answer. There is an inherent design problem from the beginning due to poor understanding of cheap. Stupid people have zero understanding of the value of money and thus history repeats itself. I told you Singapore would collapse systemwise by yearend. There will be a few more serious systemic failures of 2-3 other major infrastructures. ISD and PMO reading this should seriously solve those time bombs soon. Allthe accolades are scheduled for one tombstone fall at a match near you on pay-per-view. My intuitive sense of technical systems is quite accurate. hehehehehe. I have always said that terrorism in Singapore will not be from without but from within and from the most unlikely of sources to most. You are seeing them and these individuals are far more destructive than any Osama bin Laden. Rather than employ the best in understanding and solving problems, they hired mercenary cocksuckers. We are now seeing the classic case of " I did not have sex with that woman"

See, good prohpet right? lol. More to come. I foresee another 3-5 major infrastructural problem cropping up. Theses were systemic problems waiting to happen. The timing is about right now. BTW, the people who could have solved and whistleblew have been removed. You only left with cocksuckers. LKY, you lose.