Three thoughts that must have went past your mind at some point.
Rail operator SMRT Corp has been fined $5.4 million for the MRT breakdown that shut down both the North-South and East-West lines on July 7.
The disruption affected some 413,000 commuters, many of whom reached home at midnight and some did so by walking.
The $5.4 million fine will go to the Public Transport Fund, which pays for transport vouchers to help needy families.
SMRT’s rail revenue for the 12 months ended March 31 stood at $644 million for the North-South, East-West and Circle lines.
The previous record fine was $2 million, slapped on SMRT for the 2011 North-South Line disruptions on Dec 15 and Dec 17 that affected about 221,000 commuters combined.
Here are three thoughts Singaporeans have:
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“Not as if SMRT CEO Desmond Kuek is going to lose sleep about this because it’s not coming out of his million-dollar salary.” — Ta Dee Tieh, 45-year-old furniture mover |
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“So the people who cannot afford to drive pays to supplement the cost of transport for the lower income whenever the train breaks down, while the rich will forever be immune to the problems of everyone else.” — Ah Seah Kia, 63-year-old prawn seller |
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“If S$5.4 million is going to be used to help needy families pay for transportation, this just means that Singapore has a lot of needy families or transport fare is exorbitant.” — Jin Boh Lui, 18-year-old aquarium cleaner |
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