SMRT

[tonyking]

In today's news.

Train operators fined $1.1m for delays and lapses in safety


SMRT and SBS Transit have been fined a total of $1.1 million for a series of train delays and safety lapses in the last 10 months.

SMRT will have to shell out $860,000 for the following lapses: a trackside fire at Newton station on Feb 13; failing to launch the correct trains for service on the Bukit Panjang LRT network on July 4; failing to repair a corroded rail along the Circle Line on time; and exposing workers to the risk of electrocution at the Ulu Pandan depot between November and December last year.

The other public transport operator SBS Transit will be fined $250,000 for taking too long - 21/2 hours instead of 30 minutes - to evacuate 250 passengers stuck in a stalled train along the North-East Line (NEL) in June after the operator failed to move the stalled train to Hougang station for a detrainment process.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said it will not penalise SBS Transit for the Jan 11 NEL breakdown that was caused by corroded U-bolts that caused the overhead cantilever arm to sag. The regulator said the it may not have been possible to detect the defects visually and SBS Transit had maintained the U-bolts according to manufacturer's requirements. The fines will be donated to the Public Transport Fund to help needy families with their transport fares.

E fine seem like peanuts compared to its FY2013 Profit After Tax & Minority Interests (PATMI) of $83.3millions, e pain only goes to the shareholders who see their dividend cut, EPS drops to 5.5cent & PE rises to 23+.

Miss e old days when a break down is still a "major news", now it seem "parts of life", like a AGM or EGM, u probably see it few times a year...