The MRT's maintenance team would be hard-pressed to perform a better job in 3.5 hours ("Khaw: Not sexy? Rail maintenance critical"; Oct 26).

As track maintenance work is an integral part of ensuring that the MRT runs smoothly and on schedule, more time should be allotted to it.

To this end, on maintenance days, train services need to end earlier, say by two hours, to allow more time for the engineers and technical staff to check and rectify any defective track components.

As can be expected, this may not go down well with some commuters, but they should realise that conducting a proper check on the entire MRT network of almost 200 trains is something that cannot be rushed into.

After all, there are alternative modes of public transport, especially buses, even if train service ends a couple of hours earlier.

A little inconvenience can go a long way towards enabling maintenance staff to do a good job which, in turn, can minimise the possibility of a major train disruption.

Jeffrey Law Lee Beng