SMRT NSEW line breakdown / disruption 7 Jul 2015 (Affected public transport commuters)

The 2nd major train breakdown since 2011. 

Although the breakdown in 2011 train services were resumed only the next day (longer), this breakdown affected the NS and EW line (read: WHOLE Singapore). So which is more serious, you decide yourself.

I am sure you have all the facts from the mainstream news, social newsfeeds, media, etc already so I am not going into that

Instead I will give my 2 cents on some of the issues / suggestions on what could be done.

People affected were not only those on the trains and waiting to board the trains but also those who took buses (with no intention of taking trains). My mum was one of them and she wanted to take a bus home after work. However, due to the spill off of people from the train stations, she had to wait a few buses to go by before she can board one.  Quite a notable amount of her time is spent on waiting for the bus.And even the bus she boarded, it was extremely crowded.

While free (no cost to commuters) shuttle buses were deployed as an alternative services to train services, the queues are ridiculously long (1 single deck bus can carry less than 100 passengers while 1 train can carry 1000 passengers). It is no wonder many people gave up and went to take other bus services that calls at their MRT stop.

I am not very sure if these bus services are free but even if they are, it is only free at the bus stop at the MRT station. The rest of the bus stops are not. 

Since train disruption affects the both train and bus commuters (even taxi commuters but I dont want to go into that) why not make public transport free for that few hours? People will have more choices and do not need to rely solely on the free shuttle buses. Those bus passengers affected will also get some sort of compensation of a free bus ride. 

You may be asking, all buses islandwide free who will pay for the cost? Afterall, it is not SBS Transit's fault and they should not be penalised.

Yes, i agree, SBST has done a good job be it in trains and buses and should not be penalised However, dont forget that after all the investigations, LTA will have impose a penalty on the disrupted train operator. Instead of specifying a fixed amount like S$1 million for 2011 disruption, the penalty will be that the penalised operator to pay for all trips made by commuters during this period of down time. I think it's win-win because LTA don't get accused of always fining the operator with no benefits to commuters and commuters get compensated for inconvenience by getting free rides.(Its probably insufficient but again its better than nothing) 

And talking about fines  I don't understand why the authorities fine the transport operators like normal companies. Whenever there is a fine, in the operator's books, it will be reflected likely as a expenditure=cost and after a while they will say cost is increasing and they need to submit a request to increase fare. Maybe there should be special treatment for these operators to pay their fines from their NET PROFIT so that their cost wouldn't be affected.  This way, they will be more motivated to ensure a smooth running system as pressure will come from their shareholders.