Transport Minister Khaw seeks public's 'understanding' in new blog post
Two weeks after a two-hour train service disruption along the North-East Line, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said on Monday he hopes for “better understanding” and more “moral support” from the public on the issue of the country's rail system.
The disruption on the morning of 26 October affected thousands of commuters and caused some students who were going to sit for their O and A level examinations to be late for their papers.
In a blog post on Monday titled "Larger than trains", Khaw, who is also the coordinating minister for infrastructure, pointed out that the scope of his work not only includes public transportation, but the aviation and maritime sectors as well.
“These are significant sectors of our economy, the health of which can impact hundreds of thousands of Singaporeans. Their jobs and their families depend on these sectors. And there are strong headwinds and turbulence ahead,” he said.
In the aviation industry, which accounts for almost 6 per cent of the country’s economy and more than 160,000 jobs, Singapore is struggling with slow passenger traffic growth, he noted.
In the maritime industry, which accounts for almost 7 per cent of the country’s GDP, Singapore faces tough competition with other alternative routes such as Arctic Route and Kra Canal, causing some ships to bypass Singapore’s port, he observed.
“We do not say a lot about such challenges in public, and Singaporeans may not be fully aware. But we spend a lot of our management time and bandwidth on these critical issues,” he said.
He added, "This is not an excuse for the next train disruption. We are doing our best to make our rail system even more reliable. I just hope to get Singaporeans' better understanding and moral support."
