SMRT

[CityFarmer]

i was quite stunned on reading that the signal system will take 2 years to be upgraded. Although I am not in the transport engineering field, it sounds rather long to me.

I think the problem is that noone is actually taking full responsibility of the entire problem. So LTA is buying more buses, SMRT is upgrading the signals, but what else is wrong? What exactly is the deadline by which the whole set of issues are resolved? I get the feeling that SMRT doesn't feel entirely apologetic abt the whole issue - in fact the whole demeanour of Desmond Kuek during all the press conferences does not strike me as someone sweating to solve the issue. Essentially, everyone's problem is noone's problem. What is needed, is someone like Mario Draghi's reassurance to the markets "We will do whatever it takes to save the euro, and trust me, it will be enough".

Desperate times require great leaders, and unfortunately i don't see anyone doing that.

Mission-critical system like MRT signalling system take year to install, test and commission. It is more so for the scale and on live system. IMO, two years to replace the signalling system with no interruption to operation, including installing, testing, and commissioning is reasonable, even under expedited schedule.