The SMRT CEO, Saw Phaik Hwa, even offered to consider stepping down over the incident, which regrettably were followed by more minor disruptions in the days following.
Being on a packed MRT train during the heat of Singapore can be uncomfortable but being stranded for five hours in a carriage without air conditioning must have been akin to hell.
In New Zealand, people have been known to force open carriage doors and spill out on to the tracks in the event of similar incidents, as they did on the opening night of the recent Rugby World Cup.
Singaporeans are a little more controlled in such circumstances but they must have been sorely tested. There are also reports that the local taxi drivers, who did very well out of the MRT's misfortune, saw this incident as an "income opportunity" - of course they did.
The Minister for Transport Lui Tuck Yew has also weighed into the fray saying that he too was disappointed by how SMRT handled the MRT disruption and would be holding them accountable. Heads will no doubt roll at some time in the future.
In a country that is so reliant on public transport a series of events such as the above make the population lose faith in the reliability of a service. We in New Zealand know this as we lost faith in NZ Rail decades ago. It is a very hard task for the company to win back custom and confidence once it is lost.
So it is also a question of context; in the main Singapore's MRT system is efficient, clean and reliable, a lot more so than many other countries including my own.
2 comments:
So it is also a question of context; in the main Singapore's MRT system is efficient, clean and reliable, a lot more so than many other countries including my own.
In New Zealand, one can buy a car for NZ$5000.00 or less at any weekend car fair and there is hardly any need to use public transport. So yes it is a question of context why sgpreans demand efficient service.
Heads will no doubt roll at some time in the future.
I beleive you still need to spend more time in this country. No such thing will happen and that's why the frustrations voiced on the internet.
All good comments.
Yes it is true that in NZ, cars especially second hand ones, are cheap. Because of this we do not have a good public transport system (which I would much prefer!) Singapore's MRT is to be envied and I have used many times over the years.
As to "heads will roll", they will not do so publicly but there will be a shuffle of functions no doubt at some stage in the convenient future. Having lived in Singapore for several years I am aware of how these matters are dealt with. :-)
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