Send shuttle buses, deploy more staff during breakdowns
I was at Newton Station during the signalling faults last week, intending to change from the Downtown Line to the North-South Line to go to Toa Payoh (Signalling faults cause two-hour delay on NSL, Tuas West Extension; June 29).
I waited for an hour for bus service 143 instead, but the buses that arrived were packed. I could not board, so I gave up and took the Downtown Line home.
Perhaps the authorities could look into a few details. First, the free bus services to help commuters are the normal bus services.
As the breakdown occurred during the evening rush hour, there were commuters standing on the upper decks and the steps at the entrances and exits of the packed buses. Both of these are not allowed, I thought, especially the former.
Second, would it not be better if the operators send shuttle buses directly to the MRT stations to pick up commuters?
These buses should only travel to and stop at the affected stations.
More staff or even the police should be deployed at bus stops.
I could see only one SBS Transit staff member shouting, instead of using a loudhailer, to direct buses into the bus bay and ask commuters to move away from the road.
Newton circus is a congested road junction, so the Traffic Police should have been on hand to stop motorists at intervals to ensure the buses could move smoothly instead of battling with other vehicles to move forward.
After so many breakdowns, I would have thought the operators and the authorities had sufficiently learnt how best to handle these situations.
