With just six more days to go till the launch of stage two of the Downtown Line, Minister for Transport Khaw Boon Wan has politely reminded that some hiccups should be expected in the first couple of months. Engineers have informed Khaw that commuters should expect a "bedding-in" period (lasting several months) for the 12 new stations before the system properly stabilises.
"This is common for all new lines," wrote the minister on his Moving News blog. "While they can perform all forms of testing in a simulated environment, they cannot fully replicate how the system will actually perform in a live environment involving thousands of commuters."