Press Releases
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SMRT Challenge 2007
Date of Event: 16th September 2007 (Sunday)
Time: 8am to 5pm
Venue: Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza -
WHERE ARE THE PASSENGERS?
SBS Transit loses $1m a year keeping station open
By Tan Mae Lynn
15 October 2007
THEY wanted the station opened, and they got it. They wanted feeder bus services, they got those too.
But they still didn't use Buangkok MRT station on the North-East line.
Their excuses: Sengkang and Hougang stations have shopping malls while Buangkok, which lies between these two, has just one convenience store.
Also, since not many people are using the station, they don't feel safe.
Now the question is: When will the excuses stop and the very people, who campaigned hard for the station to open, begin using it?
The New Paper had reported last February about the poor ridership at this station.
Things haven't improved after all these months.
Responding to queries from TheNew Paper on Sunday, SBS Transit revealed that in the 21 months since it opened, it saw daily ridership grow from a meagre 900 to 2,600 last month. That's still short of the 3,500 per day it expected to get when the station opened.
Not surprisingly, SBS Transit said the Buangkok station is its worst performer of the 15 NEL stations. It accounts for less than 1 per cent of the total daily ridership of 270,000.
SBS Transit said it costs more than $1 million just to keep the station open.
The station had been in the spotlight in recent years because it remained closed for about 21/2 years, even after the NEL line began operating in 2003.
SBS Transit eventually relented and opened the station to much fanfare last January after residents in the nearby Hougang, Buangkok and Sengkang estates, together with their MP Charles Chong, lobbied hard for it.
Then, some 6,000 people had pledged to use the station.
But they don't seem to have kept that pledge.
TAKING MEASURES
SBS Transit's director of corporate communications, Ms Tammy Tan, told The New Paper on Sunday that they are taking pro-active measures to attract more commuters to the station.
They have leased out four retail outlets - a convenience store and three educational centres.
She said: 'The rental is kept relatively low here in comparison to other stations. Here, we only charge about 10 per cent of what we charge at Sengkang station as our intention is to draw residents to the shops here and boost ridership.'
But Mr Mohamad Rafeek, 27, who helps his uncle run the convenience store, said business has been poor.
He said: 'In the mornings and up to about 5.30pm, there are fewer than 50customers. It is only in the evenings that it gets a bit better.
'In the afternoons it is very quiet... Maybe it will be better at the end of the year when more people move in to the area.'
Ms Tan said it could be because residents are unwilling to walk the distance and they prefer to take buses which stop closer to their homes.
The New Paper on Sunday spoke to some residents in the surrounding Sengkang and Hougang areas, and found that most were happy that the Buangkok station had opened.
But some admitted that they don't use the station regularly.
Housewife Madam Teo Chin Geoh, 60, said: 'I use both the Buangkok and Hougang stations. It depends on which feeder bus comes first.'
Madam Teo lives along Hougang Avenue 8, which is a seven-minute walk to Buangkok station.
She said: 'There are no trees or shelter from the sun when you walk to the Buangkok station. If it rains, it's also a problem.
'If I have to walk, when I miss the bus, I would rather walk to Hougang - at least there's shelter.'
Some residents also say even if they take the MRT, it's difficult to hail a cab at the station after that.
Ms Anne de Souza, 32, said: 'When it opened, I thought I could use the station and enjoy a short cab ride back.
'But the road there is so quiet you can't get a cab from there... I've tried it before, I ended up walking home.'
Others, however, have simply got used to travelling to other stations like Hougang or Sengkang.
Mr Tan Ah Chai, 50, said his wife and children either commute by bus or use the Hougang station even though Buangkok is closer.
He said: 'They tell me they're more used to it, and it's livelier at Hougang too. Buangkok is only a little bit closer, but you have to walk there.
'My wife prefers Hougang because she can take the feeder service just in front of the block, and it's only two bus stops away.'
For others, there's also the shopping factor.
While Buangkok has only one convenience store, both Hougang and Sengkang stations have malls.
Due to the lack of crowds, residents also avoid stopping at the station at night.
Accounts clerk Madam Sharon Tan, 38, said: 'I've tried to stop at Buangkok before, but I don't like it. There's still a lot of construction going on around there, I don't feel safe walking home alone, especially at night.'
The station is surrounded by construction sites and a piece of land about the size of 30 football fields.
It needs a ridership of 5,000 a day just to break even.
The station, which was built at a cost of $80m, costs $1.2m a year to operate. Even Punggol station, which has the second lowest ridership along the NEL, operates with almost three times the number of rides - 7,800 - a day.
Dhoby Ghaut interchange is the busiest with a daily ridership of 48,000.
The other train operator, SMRT, has an average daily ridership of about 1.2million people on its network of 51stations.
A check with HDB indicates that Buangkok may soon see happier days.
Since January last year, an additional 1,300 HDB flats have been completed and some residents have moved in.
That comes up to more than 3,500housing units in the vicinity of the station. Another 1,000 flats next to the station are due to be completed by end of next year.
And 625 condo units at The Quartz, located next to the station, also expected to be completed in 2009.
UNFAZED
That's also why Mr Chong is unfazed by the poor ridership.
He said: 'It's increasing, and as the blocks there get more populated, eventually it would be a happy situation for SBS and everyone.'
It's only a matter of time before it becomes profitable, he added. -
No more jammed cards
Straits Times, The (Singapore)
Singapore
November 8, 2007
COMMUTERS topping up their ez-link cards at SMRT ticketing machines will find the process easier now.
The company has installed external card readers on its ticketing machines.
This is to address complaints - some 150 cases a day - of cards inserted into the machine's ATM-like slot getting jammed inside.
The external readers have a 'drop-in' cradle for the card, which remains visible during a transaction. They went on trial at the Admiralty, Boon Lay and City Hall MRT stations and the Bukit Panjang LRT station in late August.
SMRT, in a statement on Tuesday, advised commuters not to remove their ez-link cards before the green light comes on, indicating that a transaction has been completed.
All SMRT stations should have new card readers by next month.
Copyright, 2007, Singapore Press Holdings Limited -
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Farmway stop on Sengkang LRT now open
Straits Times, The (Singapore)
Home, Pg H18
November 16, 2007
AFTER a delay of 2-1/2 years, the Farmway station on the Sengkang West Light Rapid Transit (LRT) line opened for passenger service yesterday.
It did not open earlier as there were too few residents in the area to cater to.
The station is being opened now to serve residents who want to get to the nearby Anchorvale Community Club, which opens next week. It will also provide easy access to sports facilities when the adjoining sports complex is completed next year.
The daily operating hours for the Sengkang LRT (West Loop) will be adjusted slightly: Trains will now run from 5.19am till 12.47am the following day from Monday to Saturday, and from 5.39am till 12.47am the following day on Sunday, with Farmway station serving as the first stop.
Service frequency - at 4½ minutes for peak hours and seven minutes during off peak hours - will be regularly reviewed to cater to changing travel patterns.
Copyright, 2007, Singapore Press Holdings Limited -
SMRT launches Tunnel TV
New media space allows commuters to view advertisements on the go
http://www.smrt.com.sg/news/2007/News%20release_TunnelTV_26dec__final_.pdf -
Train service disruptions on 25 December 2007
http://www.smrt.com.sg/news/2007/press%20release%20-%20train%20service%20delay%20on%2025dec07_final_.pdf
Commuters and shoppers rewarded with cash and a luxurious Hong Kong holiday in the first ‘Ride SMRT, Celebrate Life’ monthly draw
http://www.smrt.com.sg/news/2007/Press%20Release%20-%20RSCL%20Draw%201%20FINAL.pdf -
GirlÂ’s leg caught in MRT platform gap
SINGAPORE: With one leg wedged tightly in the gap between an MRT train and the station platform, it wasn’t the most comfortable 15 minutes for a 15—year—old girl.
The girl found herself caught this way on Thursday, when she was alighting at Bugis station shortly before 5pm, in the second such incident this year.
As a result, west—bound train services between Aljunied and Outram Park stations were delayed for about 20 minutes, said an SMRT spokesperson.
The girl apparently stepped into the gap between the platform and the train by accident, resulting in her leg getting stuck up to the knee.
According to the girlÂ’s friends who were with her, a fellow commuter called the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) while they tried to comfort her and get her out.
"It was very crowded and we kept getting pushed back. People were crowding around and trying to look and take photos of her," said a friend, one of her schoolmates at Northview Secondary School.
The friend said that because of the jostling crowds, she might have been unable to see where she was stepping. She remained "quite calm" throughout and did not appear to be too badly hurt, he added.
Using hydraulic spreaders to widen the space between the train and the platform, the paramedics took about 10 minutes to get the girl out, who was not bleeding or visibly hurt, said the SCDF.
She was sent to the Singapore General Hospital for treatment, and train services resumed at about 5.15pm.
In January, in a similar incident, a woman had her leg trapped between a train and the platform at Clementi station, causing train services to be disrupted for more than 20 minutes.
This, along with other accidents involving commuters, caused concern among some TODAY readers, who wrote in urging SMRT to take more action to monitor passenger safety at the stations. — TODAY/so -
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Channel NewsAsia - 1 hour 45 minutes ago
SMRT opens first non—underground retail space in Choa Chu Kang
SINGAPORE: SMRT has officially opened its first heartland, non—underground retail space — Choa Chu Kang Xchange, at the junction of a bus interchange, MRT and LRT stations.
This follows the Raffles and Dhoby Xchanges, both of which are in the city.
Covering close to 1,000 square metres, all 42 shops at Choa Chu Kang Xchange have been leased out.
SMRT Corporation president & CEO Saw Phaik Hwa said, five years ago "when we started off for only retail, we used to... make about S$20 million in terms of rentals. Today, I think this year, we should end in excess of S$40 million. So, it’s more than doubled in terms of revenue from rentals alone."
Despite some recent problems with tenants at the Dhoby Xchange, who felt they were not getting enough exposure, SMRT said things have since turned around there and there are now many new tenants and the occupancy rate has hit over 90 per cent.
SMRT said retail space in the heartlands does not necessarily mean lower rentals.
Mr Saw said, "It is not location. It is the passengers that you bring to the location. So we have tens of thousands, sometimes 100,000 passengers, in certain exchanges like Boon Lay, (which) is very highly used. Here (Choa Chu Kang) is very highly used."
Some shops at the Xchange have been able to balance—off higher rentals with higher profits, but smaller neighbourhood shops, which do not have such high passenger volume, are feeling the heat.
"Ever since that place opened, our business has gone down by half, so we try to keep our prices low," said a neighbourhood cake shop lady.
Work is also underway at two other Xchanges in Boon Lay and Tanjong Pagar, which should be ready by the first half of this year. — CNA/ac
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honestly, i just walk past the shops. mrt station is for me to take train only.
okay, i go the atm kiosk at tampines mrt stn and guardian for sweets.
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Shorter waiting times for train commuters during peak hours
http://www.smrt.com.sg/news/2008/SMRT%20train%20service%20enhancement%20_final.pdf
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Channel NewsAsia - Saturday, February 2
SMRT and SBS Transit raise peak period train frequencies
SINGAPORE: Starting 4 February, the journey to and from work for commuters is expected to be quicker.
Both SMRT and SBS Transit announced on Friday that they will be increasing the number of train trips per week.
SMRT, which operates the North—South and East—West lines, will run 83 additional trips during the morning and evening peak periods. It said this will cut average waiting times by as much as 1.5 minutes.
The change is expected to benefit passengers travelling southwards from Yishun, and westwards from Boon Lay during the morning rush hours.
Meanwhile, northbound and eastbound commuters in the evening peak period may similarly expect a quicker, less crowded journey.
SBS Transit, which operates the North East Line (NEL), will add another 10 trips each week.
It said the move will cut average waiting times from four to three minutes during the morning peak period, and from five to four minutes in the evening rush hour. — CNA/vm