Publish monthly reports on MRT service performance

As a regular MRT commuter, I am glad to note the slight improvement in train reliability and I thank the SMRT for its efforts ("Rail reliability target ambitious, says SMRT chief"; Nov 19).

However, I am disappointed that the improvement in the first 10 months of this year, compared with last year for the North-South and East-West MRT lines, was only an incremental 1,000 train-km between disruptions, from 143,000 train-km between delays to 144,000 train-km between delays.

At this rate, we will never achieve the 2018 target of 400,000 train-km between disruptions, set by Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan. That means commuters will continue to suffer intolerable delays and inconveniences.

What is SMRT's road map to work towards this target within the next two years?

Last year, Hong Kong's MTR system, which is much older and more extensive than our MRT system, clocked a mean distance between failures of 360,000 train-km ("Can S'pore match Taipei's rail reliability?"; June 9).

Like the MTR, SMRT should publish monthly train service performance reports to increase transparency, now that it has been delisted from the Singapore stock exchange ("Fresh start for delisted SMRT"; Nov 1).

While financial performance may be a priority to management, service performance will be critical to commuters.

SMRT should also be required to publish key service performance indicators monthly. Its management should be held accountable to achieve those service performance targets.

Patrick Tan Siong Kuan

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 25, 2016, with the headline Publish monthly reports on MRT service performance. Subscribe