Snaking queues wrapped around HarbourFront Centre Tower Two for free cable car rides on Monday (10 August) in commemoration of this year’s Golden Jubilee celebrations. The free rides were available for all Singaporeans and Permanent Residents of Singapore from 9am to 9pm on both the Sentosa and Mount Faber lines.
So popular was the demand that some lined up since 7am, said those in the queue who spoke to Channel NewsAsia at about 4pm on Monday. Waiting time by then had stretched into the 10-hour mark, according to the Singapore Cable Car on Facebook and signposts prominently displayed around the location.
Queues for free cable car rides at the HarbourFront Centre have not let up despite the Singapore Cable Car’s note that the wait may take about 10 hours. http://bit.ly/1KdeGzR(Video: Loke Kok Fai)
Posted by Channel NewsAsia Singapore on Monday, 10 August 2015
“We will not be able to accept more guests on the cable cars today. Please do not join the queue at mount Faber, Harbourfront and Sentosa stations,” the attraction wrote in its online post at about 1.15pm.
However, apart from some heated moments earlier in the day, queues were generally orderly and the mood on the ground was mildly upbeat. Many had good words to say about the management, while some said the demand should have been anticipated.
Staff from Singapore Cable Car were on the ground to manage the situation. Apart from stopping new arrivals, they had also been informing whatever new arrivals of the situation. They also said that a separate queue was in place from the beginning of the day for paying customers, but they might also have been affected by the heavy demand.
Singapore Cable Car also conducted free shuttle bus services at its Mount Faber Station, which saw sizeable numbers queueing up despite the fact that rides from that station were not free.
A Facebook user, Ronald, who was at the Mount Faber station, had sent photos to Channel NewsAsia early on Monday, saying the queue he was in “was not moving at all”.
Long queue for cable car rides early on Monday (Aug 10). (Photo: Ronald/Facebook)
Merely two hours before the free rides were scheduled to end, Singapore Cable Car wrote again on its Facebook page to remind the public not to join the queues at the HarbourFront, Mount Faber and Sentosa stations as it was unable to accept anymore guests.
“Free rides for Singaporeans and PRs for the Mount Faber line have received overwhelming response … (We) thank all who patiently waited and offer our apology to those who did not get to ride today,” it said.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com
