Update: The NS line went down again on Saturday morning. For SEVEN hours. Good grief.
Where do I even begin?
Just a day after the Circle Line fiasco on the morning of Wednesday, Dec 14, 2011, the SMRT outdid themselves with the chaos on Thursday 15 December 2011, probably its worst breakdown in its 24 years of running trains.
Many commuters sat in darkness in trains stalled in the tunnels; some commuters had to walk the tunnel tracks in darkness to get out; and a window was smashed with a fire extinguisher to let the air into the stuffy train carriage.
And a friend heard this ACTUAL MRT announcement: "Due to a slight delay, there will be delay."
Brilliant.
I will just let the photos do the talking (taken from various Facebook sources, if the shot is yours, please let me know and I will credit you).
SMRT's latest power-saving scheme: The Manual Air-con.
The SMRT's latest route: the Scenic Route Line. Zombies not included in ticket price.
SMRT informs their cab drivers of an "income opportunity"… a breakdown in their own MRT train services from Bishan MRT to Marina Bay MRT stretch of stations.
SMRT did get around to apologizing for the taxi message.
An SMRT spokesman said on Thursday night: "We are sorry for the oversight. Our staff were using a template message, and we have since corrected it."
Frankly, I think SMRT needs to relook their template messages for everything, not just that taxi one.
Meanwhile, the spin has begun: "ST: Passengers not worried despite Thursday's MRT breakdown"
Sure, interview those who were NOT on the affected trains to ask if they were worried.
Over at Yahoo, more than 1000 angry comments were found at the column "Train disruptions unacceptable and unforgivable".
And where was our Transport Minister in the midst of this chaos? Minister Lui Tuck Yew was in Cambodia for the 17TH ASEAN Transport Ministers' Meeting in Phnom Penh.
Oh the irony.
(Don't worry, he just said he will ask "LTA to assemble a team of relevant experts, including possibly relevant overseas experts to help us in this review". Wow, a whole team. That's reassuring. Too bad the team wasn't assembled BEFORE the chaos, eh?)
NEWSFLASH! They caught the real MRT window breaker:
(Image from Adrian Wee's Facebook page)
