IREFER to Mr David Kwok Ng Kan's letter, "Fix MRT escalators station by station" (my paper, Feb 2).

SMRT has in place an overhaul programme for all station escalators to enhance their reliability, so that passengers will enjoy greater convenience when they travel with us.

Escalator overhauls are performed once every 10 to 15 years, and involve a thorough change of escalator components.

Due to its intensive and complex nature, it is not possible to operate the escalator for passenger use until the whole process is completed, which takes about four weeks for each escalator.

We are mindful of the inconvenience caused to passengers during the overhaul.

Hence, we have scheduled not more than one escalator at each station for overhaul, so that commuters can still enjoy the convenience of using other escalators at the station.

We have also scheduled some works which may disrupt passenger flow in after-revenue hours.

We hope this clarifies the matter, and thank Mr Kwok and all commuters for their patience and understanding.

MS BERNADETTE LOW MANAGER, CORPORATE MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS SMRT CORPORATION

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