Go ahead and flame me if you wish , but I believe there's now a stronger case for Singaporeans to give a straight thumbs-down on their own public transport system .
Approximately 57,000 commuters were affected by seven-hour MRT train disruption from 5.28am to 12.45pm today . As quoted from channelnewsasia.com :
"SMRT Corporation says the disruption was caused by the breakdown of a maintenance works train which was carrying out works between Tampines and Simei (westbound) MRT stations."
The black cross above shows the location where the maintenance train broke down . It's not hard to see why the impact to the commuters was magnified several times over in the end besides the timing itself being peak travel hours . Passengers from Pasir Ris , Tampines and Simei would not be able to get to Tanah Merah station (and vice-versa) where they have to transfer to another train to carry on their journey into the city area or whatever destination they were headed for .
It seemed kinda ironic that less than a week ago , the Land Transport Authority had unveiled a masterplan to give the public transport system a thorough makeover in the next two years and now this occurred .
This incident reminded me of the early times of the North-East Line (purple route) two years back , where train disruptions were commonplace and criticism of the new line was aplenty .
However unintentional , it's definitely impossible to absolve SMRT of all blame , judging from the extent of impact this time round . Firstly , from 5.28am to 12.45pm , which is like more than seven hours , the maintenance train was still idling on the tracks like there's no tomorrow and this speaks of inefficiency on SMRT's part .
Secondly , whilst we shouldn't be overly critical of the shuttle bus services (some may say that one bus per 28 minutes is way too long , but hey , SMRT's resources in terms of deploying spare buses were limited considering it was peak hours) , the manner in which the situation was handled leaves much to be desired . Handwritten directional signs were disorganised at best and could be improved by making them bilingual so that the elderly could understand the information on display .
Thirdly , the first train from Pasir Ris took a much longer time than usual to reach Tanah Merah station where it usually took under 10 minutes , which caused , IMO , unnecessary delays for commuters as if they hadn't had enough of the inconvenience before this . The train should not even have been allowed to be in operation till the problem had been fixed totally .
Some points to reflect upon following this rather unfortunate incident :
- Had SMRT placed its staff through training in handling emergencies of this scale ? I guess it's a good wake-up call if proper training hadn't taken place prior to this disruption , and even if there had been training beforehand , it's still a harsh reality check for SMRT anyway judging by the largely negative comments of commuters from news reports and forums and blogs as well .
- The Circle Line , which is still under construction , will be put under scrutiny for sure . Commuters will not hesitate to lash out on the authorities if disruptions occur frequently once this line is in operation , since it will ply existing stations like Serangoon (purple line) and Bishan (red line) and hence train operations on these lines will also be affected adversely .
Final conclusion : The notion of a seamless transport system is merely utopia in Singapore's context , unless the relevant authorities are able to handle sudden disruptions to the system without any hiccups .
Sadly , the underlined portion would be too tall a mountain to climb given the already congested roads Singaporeans face today as well as the high expectations they have about the system . Perhaps there will be a trend of more people switching to private transport after this ? (Being sadist again)
During the period of disruption , I happened to be outside too but not on the rail system ; instead I was on bus 147 to Kwong Im temple where I'd then walk on to Bugis Junction to buy new clothes for myself at I.P. Zone .
Eventually , I settled for two printed tees and a pair of black shorts which totalled up to exactly $50 . The final bill could have been way over double that amount had I decided to get a new sling bag and new wallet , but I exercised self-restraint this time . (Wait till I get my pay for the 10 days I worked at Watsons Compass Point)
After buying the clothes , I was torn between gaming at Bunk and VirtuaLAN but eventually settled for the latter for the next three hours before going home .
Latest job update: Confirmed to work at Watsons Hougang Mall from 25 Jan to 01 Feb , at the concourse area (ground floor) .
Labels: disruption, MRT
