North-South Line passes 100-day milestone without disruption: Khaw Boon Wan

A train travelling along the North-South Line between Bishan and Ang Mo Kio stations. PHOTO: ST FILE

SINGAPORE - It has been 100 days since the North-South Line (NSL) last experienced a major incident, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan announced on his blog on Tuesday (April 19).

The NSL achieved the feat on Monday, joining the Downtown Line (DTL) - which passed 178 days without disruption - in clearing the 100-day milestone.

"For us in the rail industry, clearing 100 disruption-free days is no mean feat: it requires everyone to do everything right. Any misstep can cause a disruption," Mr Khaw wrote in his post, titled "On track to better rail reliability".

Mr Khaw said that the NSL's feat is especially inspiring as it is the oldest of Singapore's five MRT lines.

"Its success gives us confidence that with hard work and strong determination, we will improve our rail reliability," he added.

Likening the challenge of continued success to a game of snakes and ladders, Mr Khaw warned that any lapse and it is back to square one.

The task of stabilising the existing rail system and making it more reliable is made harder by the expanding rail capacity, as new trains are added and run more frequently.

"Many of these engineering tasks have to be carried out during the three to four engineering hours per day," he wrote.

"But our colleagues on the ground are undaunted. They are pressing on, and putting in their best efforts, all thanks to the continued support of commuters and residents during the early closure of the North-South and East-West Lines (NSEWL)."

Mr Khaw also called for commuters to be understanding after it was announced on April 15 that rail operator SMRT would open a stretch of the NSEWL later on Sunday mornings so its engineers would have more time to carry out maintenance work.

The later openings, which take effect from June 5 to Dec 8, will see 13 stations open an hour later at 7am.

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