We thank Mr Wu Quanshen for his feedback (交流站：地铁大故障后，乘客补偿须到位, 7 Jun) on the financial penalty that LTA intends to impose on SMRT following the East-West Line (EWL) disruption in September 2024.   

We agree that the penalty imposed following a disruption to public transport services should serve to improve service and rebuild trust. This can be achieved by ensuring that the right lesson is learnt, and reliability is improved. Our approach is therefore to apply a penalty that is targeted at the specific operator based on its role in causing the disruption. This sends a serious signal to the operator that it must take corrective actions to avoid a recurrence.

This penalty goes above and beyond what an operator is required to do for affected commuters during a disruption, including providing free travel alternative bus services.  The cost of these provisions as well as the repairs would be borne by the operator.

Financial penalties imposed on operators is not retained by LTA, but will be channelled to the Public Transport Fund, which supports lower-income families with their public transport expenditures.   

As our rail network expands, we will encounter incidents from time to time. We aim to minimise the number of incidents, and will continue to work closely with the tripartite partners to strengthen rail reliability and improve our incident response to minimise the impact on commuters.

Yeo Teck Guan (Mr) (姚德源)
Senior Group Director, Public Transport (公共交通组高级总署长)
Land Transport Authority (陆路交通管理局)