East-West Line Back on Track After 6-Day Delay

After six days of delays, train services finally resumed between Jurong East and Buona Vista MRT stations along the East-West Line on the morning of October 1. The disruption, caused by extensive track damage, had left many commuters scrambling for alternative routes and dealing with longer travel times.

This return to normalcy brings a sigh of relief for many. However, westbound trains along the four-station stretch (i.e., between Dover and Clementi) are currently running slower at a temporary speed limit of 40km/h until October 3. This slower pace is part of a standard safety process following rail replacements, as trains typically travel at speeds of 60-80km/h.

COMMUTERS’ EXPERIENCE

During the disruption, the daily lives of more than 2.1 million passengers were affected with long waits and crowded platforms becoming the norm from September 25 to 29. The delays created challenges for those heading to work or school, requiring them to leave home earlier than usual.

Many commuters switched to alternative transport like buses, ride-hailing services, or taxis, which are typically more expensive than the MRT. You see, ride-hailing services also implemented surge pricing due to higher demand. These increased travel costs added up, especially for long-distance commuters.

ALTERNATIVE ROUTES

For six days, commuters took alternative routes, with many switching to the North-South Line or opting for the Thomson-East Coast and Downtown Lines. As a result, stations were packed, and transfer points became congested with passengers seeking faster routes to their destinations.

A common strategy involved transferring at Queenstown station to take the shuttle train to Buona Vista, or using Boon Lay station to transfer to Jurong East. While necessary, these options still extended travel times and complicated otherwise straightforward journeys.

REPAIR WORK

The damage affected the stretch between Clementi and Ulu Pandan Depot, requiring a full replacement of rail segments. On September 30, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced that the rail repairs been completed and the third rail had also been reinstated.

Before fully reopening the line, the LTA carried out a series of rigorous tests to ensure the tracks were safe. This included load tests using a locomotive to verify the rails were securely welded, followed by an endurance test involving a fully loaded train packed with sandbags to mimic real commuter conditions. Only after passing these assessments were trains allowed back on the line.

THE IMPACT

Commuters faced higher travel costs, missed appointments, and lost valuable time that could have been spent with family or at work. Many shared their frustrations of waking up earlier, enduring crowded buses, and dealing with extended travel times.

Image Credits: unsplash.com

For the millions affected, the six-day disruption felt like a marathon of endurance. With services now restored, they can finally return to their routines, though with a lingering sense of caution until the repairs are fully stabilized.

Sources: 1 & 2

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6 Thomson-East Coast Line Stations Will Soon Open In Q3 2021

Represented by the color brown on the rail map, the Thomson–East Coast Line (TEL) is a new Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line in Singapore. It is currently under construction and is expected to be completed by year 2024. Its completion will provide the residents in the East and along the North-South Corridor a faster access to the city.

The TEL’s development spans five different phases. When these phases are accomplished, it will serve approximately one million commuters a day. The first phase of TEL (TEL 1) opened for service last January 31, 2020. TEL 1 includes Woodlands North, Woodlands, and Woodlands South MRT stations. The second phase of the TEL (TEL 2) is scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2021.

EXPERIENCING EARLIER DELAYS

Due to the circumstances brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and further system review, the second phase of the Thomson–East Coast Line had been delayed twice from its original target opening date. A system review was prompted by a five-hour disruption along the line last Dec 4, 2020.

In a glimmer of hope, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) handed over six MRT stations along the second phase of the Thomson-East Coast Line to SMRT last Friday (April 30, 2021). This entails that there will be nine operational stations in the TEL soon.

Image Credits: facebook.com/WeKeepYourWorldMoving (LTA)

MORE ON THE SIX STATIONS

The six stations (TEL 2) that were handed over to SMRT included Springleaf, Lentor, Mayflower, Bright Hill, Upper Thomson, and Caldecott. The Caldecott station will become an interchange that connects to the Circle Line.

According to LTA: “The civil and structural works for the six stations have been completed, with some architectural, electrical, and mechanical works ongoing.

LTA has also completed rigorous testing and commissioning of the trains and systems for (the second stage of the Thomson-East Coast Line), including tests to ensure that the new stations operate seamlessly with the three (operating) stations.”

Train operator SMRT will continue with more tests to ensure everyone’s safety.

UPGRADE IN THE COMMUTER’S TRAVEL TIME

LTA highlights the convenience of faster travels upon the opening of the Thomson-East Coast Line’s second phase. By Q3 of 2021, residents from households near (i.e., within a 10-minute walking distance) one of the nine stations can expect travel time savings of up to 50%. For instance, a Sin Ming resident travelling to Republic Polytechnic by public transport will enjoy a 25-minute journey instead of the current 50-minute travel time.

Image Credits: facebook.com/WeKeepYourWorldMoving (LTA)

More TEL stations will be opened in the next three years. Moreover, the Jurong Region Line and the Cross Island Line are still under construction. Let us stay tuned!

Sources: 1, 2, & 3

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Dramatic Increase In Transport Fares Welcome 2019

Capping off the year was the application of the price hike as suggested by the Public Transport Council (PTC). This is a part of the Fare Review Exercise, which affects the train and bus services (i.e., including Go Ahead Singapore, SBS, SMRT, and Tower Transit).

Notice your remaining balance for the past few days. You may tap out of a station and feel that you have been charged more than the usual rate. The same thing happened when you took the bus. It just does not add up, right? Well, you are not alone. The increase in transport fares began in December 29, 2018.

Adults who take the trains and buses will have to pay 6 cents more for the card fares. While, an adult cash bus fare and a single-trip train fare bumps up by 10 cents. Lastly, students and senior citizens are experiencing a cent increase in card fares.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?

Many factors contributed to increase in fares. Firstly, the fare review came after the three consecutive years of fare reductions. In its press release last October, the PTC highlighted that the fare reductions totaled to 8.3%.

Secondly, the biggest contributing factor to the hike was the surge in energy prices. As the authorities track how much a bus or rail capacity has in relation to the ridership, they found that the real usage has not kept up with the capacity growth. Following this observation, the Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan agrees that raising fares are unavoidable due to the operating costs.

” PTC’s decision on fares seldom pleases all. Commuters do not welcome fare increases; operators need fare adjustments to keep pace with their operating costs. Against such challenges, PTC has chosen the right strategy to be open, transparent and fair. ” – Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan on a Facebook post

Lastly, the funds collected from the hike will benefit the SMRT Rail and the SBS Transit. The former will get about S$24.1 million more for its repair and maintenance costs. Furthermore, the funds will be used to increase the manpower for improved rail network performance. The latter will take about S$10.9 million more, which can be used to cover the operations and to adjust the salaries for the workers.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Equipped with these information, may you always keep your EZ-Link cards topped up!

Sources: 1 & 2

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A (potential) survival guide for the next SMRT crisis

Singapore has always prided itself on being competitive. We thrive and prosper when we stay ahead of competition. To achieve this, the Singapore government has diligently invested large sums of money  and committed significant efforts to various productivity measures and educational initiatives.

One of the noteworthy productivity controls would be the reduction of lean waste, commonly referred to as DOWNTIME, which stands for Defects, Overproduction, Waiting time, Non-utilised or idle people, Transportation time, Inventory surplus, additional Motion to obtain out-of-reach materials and Extra-processing. The practice of lean principles has all along been championed by Toyota, the top-ranking automaker for the third consecutive year.

However, such conventional wisdom seems to have eroded with time when applied to the overall Singapore economy. An inordinate amount of time has been squandered through our increasingly unreliable public transportation system, draining productivity and crippling our competitive economy. Once reputed as an efficient train system in the 1990s, the bread and butter of our economy is no longer a boon but a bane to realising our productivity goals.

Nonetheless, all is not lost. We are still capable of living up to the titles of being the second most competitive city in the world and enjoying the second best quality of life in Asia. All we need is putting the following measures in place to adequately combat the next SMRT crisis, which requires resolve and political will across different agencies.

Image credit: www.thechinatimes.com

Image credit: www.thechinatimes.com

1. Maximise the use of PRIVATE CARS on the road

Yesterday’s disruption of train services on both the green and red lines “stranded” more than a quarter of a million people due to the inadequacies of the existing public transportation system. In particular, the bus and taxi fleets were insufficient to cater to the large crowd of passengers during the peak hours.

This is expected as the bus and cab populations are merely 17,509 and 27,695 respectively according to LTA as of 2013. This means given that the average bus fleet operated is 3,777 and if we assume all the cabs are in commission by individual passengers at a given time, each bus has to accommodate at least 59 passengers, which is not significantly less than the total passenger capacity of a single-deck bus.

Faced with such circumstances, it would thus be wiser for the private car population of 540,063 to pick up the slack. While taxis are profit-driven, private cars are more inclined towards cost-minimisation.  Therefore, for the future rail “disaster”, it would be in the shared interests of both private car drivers and commuters to exchange a convenient ride for a nominal fee. Probably $5 to $10, depending on the length of the ride?

The implementation process is simple. It could be as easy as putting up a sign on the windscreen or using a mobile app or a site to indicate the destination and pick up passengers on the way.

Nonetheless, this requires the exemption of legal hurdles stated in the “Road Traffic (Car Pools) (Exemption) Order 2015” as shown below in times of crises: 

  1. You cannot solicit passengers on a road, parking place or public stands.
  2. The pick-up points, drop-off points, date and payment must all be agreed between driver and passengers before the start of the carpool ride.

2. Switch the DOOR ORIENTATION of public buses

Image credit: www.kyoto-magonote.jp

Image credit: www.kyoto-magonote.jp

 

In Japan, passengers board the back door and alight at the front door. This may seem counter-intuitive at first but try thinking again. Japan is well-known for its legendary public transportation system which is uber-efficient and super-punctual. It is way past due to learn from our equally – if not more – developed cousin in Asia.

With the current door orientation, a common vexation in Singapore is that many passengers are reluctant to move to the rear as much as possible to allow more passengers to be able to board the bus. However, if passengers were to board the back door instead of the front door, they would be able to choose between moving to the fore or the back and thus the passenger load is likely to be more evenly spread out. Fortunately, this is a psychological issue that can be expediently rectified with an engineering tweak.

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LTA: Free Pre-Peak MRT Rides Extended For Another Year (Jun 2016)

SMRT Train Featured

LTA has announced in a press release that they will be extending the Free Pre-Peak Travel on MRT for another year to 30 June 2016.

That is certainly good news for commuters who take the effort to make changes to their daily routine — not only can they save money, it helps to reduce congestion and thus improving the ride satisfaction.

Commuters who exit before 7.45am at the 18 designated MRT stations* in the city area will not have fares deducted for their MRT rides.

Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Transport Mrs Josephine Teo said:

The proportion of commuters who have shifted their travel patterns due to the Free Pre-peak Travel scheme is significant and has stabilised after two years. The scheme is an important foundation on which we can build on for our other travel demand management efforts, which includes our Travel Smart Programme, Travel Smart Rewards and the new Off-Peak Pass[2] that we are introducing in July this year. We hope that more people, who are able and willing to shift their travelling times, will benefit.

LTA Facebook

* The 18 designated stations are Bayfront, Bras Basah, Bugis, Chinatown, City Hall, Clarke Quay, Dhoby Ghaut, Downtown, Esplanade, Lavender, Marina Bay, Orchard, Outram Park, Promenade, Raffles Place, Somerset, Tanjong Pagar and Telok Ayer.

Read Also: 6 Ways To Cushion The Impact Of a Fare Hike

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