SINGAPORE: It is not up to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to prescribe compensation for commuters affected by MRT service disruptions. However, Minister of State for Transport Lim Hwee Hua added that there are existing refund and alternative transport mechanisms which commuters can turn to.

There is also a deterrent penalty of up to S$1 million under the Rapid Transit Systems Act for each incident where operators are found to be negligent.

Mrs Lim explained: "This acts as a deterrent to ensure that the operators upkeep the system well. It is also in the interest of the operator to minimise any train disruption, and if it does occur, to expedite the recovery process, as prolonged disruptions would have a detrimental impact on their business."

Mrs Lim was responding to a question from the MP for Marine Parade GRC, Lim Biow Chua, in Parliament on Monday.

Meanwhile, the MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC, Dr Lam Pin Min, asked about the acceptable rate of service interruptions, and the measures in place to ensure service reliability.

Mrs Lim said that from 2005 to 2007, the North-South, East-West and the North-East lines had 66 incidents of disruptions lasting more than 10 minutes each.

Out of the 66 incidents, 19 lasted more than 30 minutes. 12 out of the 19 were due to track intrusions and two were caused by passengers, such as the activation of the emergency button.

The remaining five incidents were due to systems faults, such as problems with the signalling system in trains.

Mrs Lim said the Land Transport Authority monitors the operators' performance for service quality - such as train service availability, schedule adherence and the severity of service disruptions.

For the second half of 2007, SMRT's service availability was at 99.94 per cent, which Mrs Lim said was above the 98 per cent service standard stipulated. - CNA/vm