It’s been a troublesome past few weeks for Circle Line operators SMRT, and even more vexing for the commuters who’ve been affected by service delays. Longer waiting times and slower trains have hit the underground MRT line four times in the last three weeks, with most of them occurring during rush hour.
The worst of it took place yesterday morning, when delays stretched up to four hours as disruptions affected the line from Serangoon to Botanic Gardens MRT stations. One commuter even claimed that a lady fainted when everyone got stuck in the train, with no ventilation and non-functioning air-conditioning.
Investigations conducted by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and SMRT determined that an interfering signal could have disrupted the communications, leading to signalling faults that caused the delays. They’ve yet to establish the source of the interfering signals for now.
One of the temporary solutions they’ve come up with is to get the Infocomm Development Authority (IMDA) and mobile network operators to suspend telcom signals along stretches of the Circle Line. Your brief lock out from the internet will be assisting in investigations, LTA and SMRT stated.
Other precautionary measures include having trains manually driven during evening peak hours for faster response and recovery, with additional manpower deployed at train stations to assist commuters.
LTA and SMRT are also exploring features that can strengthen the existing signalling communications network such as placing electromagnetic shields on trains or changing the signal system frequency. Whatever, dudes, just get whatever’s causing the delays fixed.
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