Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan yesterday (July 28) told media reporters that Singaporeans will get an A-grade train performance only by election time in 2020. The Transport Minister gave the train network a C plus-grade and said that it will improve to a B-grade by 2018, and an A-grade by 2020:
“This is not yet the steady state we are hoping for, but versus what we had inherited two years ago, I think this is maybe C+. Next year we should go for B. The following year, certainly before election, must be an A.”
Minister Khaw Boon Wan’s statement confirms that the ruling party have no incentive to keep the country in working order unless it is election period.
The S$1.76 million-a-year minister also slammed the media for reporting rail delays and call even his government-controlled media a “tabloid”. Minister Khaw Boon Wan then claimed the recent slew of train breakdowns paralysing all 28 stations of the North-South Line due to signalling faults has been “less traumatic”:
“Overall, the experience has actually been less traumatic than what we had feared… The new signalling system on the NSL should stabilise before the end of the year, if there are no surprises. Once this happens, more new trains will be added on the NSL progressively during the peak periods.”
The PAP Minister also claimed that rail reliability “improved by 3 times” in the two year since he took office. However a lopsided measurement was adopted, and inaccurately reflected the seriousness of the breakdowns as the government-adopted standard does not measure the duration of breakdown.