SMRT dismissed two staff involved in 22 March accident

SMRT sends emails to staff, defending its decision to dismiss two staff involved in fatal accident on 22 March

I read SMRT's letter in full and it seems that they are going by the book when it comes to dismissing the train driver. That's even though it seems that the train driver wasn't at fault. At least to me he wasn't because there was nothing he could have done to prevent the accident. His job is to control the train. He was fired because of bad luck -- being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Wow.

To me, it's another case of I-can-do-what-I-want-and-don't-really-care-what-you-think.

Khaw blames management for rail woes

Source: Khaw blames distracted management for rail issues

I've never been had a positive impression of SMRT management even since the major disruptions in 2011. That was went things really went downhill.

I still remembered their inability to handle the crowds. They didn't know what to do during the disruptions. It's not unexpected. They weren't prepared for this sort of situation. But that does not explain why they don't have the ability to handle the situation as it happened though.

Then there was the SMRT bus driver strike in 2012 when the management failed to contain unhappiness of their drivers even though the issue was already made know to them in advance. The management should have handled that better and not allow it to progress to a strike.

After that, we had more train disruptions. The one on 7 July 2015 disrupted the NSEW line. I read with disbelief when the news appeared on social media.

And remember how the two engineers died on the tracks at Tampines?

And recently there's this "Rise in major breakdowns but MRT gets more reliable: LTA" story. That's a headline led to many people scratching their head. I was like "what the hell are they trying to say?"

Now Khaw blames the management.

Not only that, Khaw wants to set goals to catch up with Hong Kong and Taipei's rail system. It's great to set goals. Any achievement made by our rail network is applauded. But before we compare to other countries, why not just compare our system today with the system we had years before? And only after we surpass ourselves should we look towards comparing with other countries.

I'm cynical about the whole situation though.

So what if they don't hit the target? It's not like anything bad will happen. Life still goes on. SMRT is still profitable. Salaries will still get paid at the end of the month.

Man in seat storm

Reference: Man caught in seat storm says he has heart condition & has not been feeling well

Lady’s rant against man who wouldn’t give up seat leads to heartwarming reunion

So now the seat for the disabled and needy has become the seat of morality and ethics. If you're on the seat and refuse to give up to someone that's shown on the sticker pasted above the seat, you have bad manners.

Says who?

Everyone can have their opinions, sure. But who are you to judge who's the right one to deserve the seat?

The guy already said that he's tired and that's a good enough excuse that he needed the seat. The woman carrying the baby also needs a seat. So how do you choose?

Take me for example, when I board trains, I don't sit even when there are empty seats. If I am tired and happen to sit at the new morality/ethics seat, I'm likely not to give it up too. I stand for most of my trips so that I can give other people a place to sit, whether they are abled or not. If one day I sit and the some moron took a photo of me, and paint whatever picture that moron wants to paint, is that an accurate picture?

In short, if you want to sit, sit. Want to give up the seat, do so. But don't turn this into a freaking morality test and go judging people.

And stop using the "ownself check ownself" or "you voted for this" arguments. Those are just excuses for your inability to argue with facts and sensibility. People using shortcut arguments are killing their brains without knowing so.

Looks like there's no COI for SMRT's July 2015 disruption

Reference: COI for latest MRT disruption "unnecessary": Lui Tuck Yew

"Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said he did not think another COI - which was convened for the Dec 2011 breakdowns - was necessary."

Yeah, that's because the previous COI was pretty useless as we are still having these problems with train disruptions. How many times are there already? Did anyone count? Was anyone held accountable?

What is accountability? How are the salaries of SMRT management determined? How are the salaries tied to the performance of the transport network?

Will LTA fines improve the train system?

Reference: LTA TO FINE SMRT AND SBS $1.65 MILLION FOR MULTIPLE TRAIN DISRUPTIONS

Sometimes I can't understand fining as a form of punishment. If the trains are disrupted or late, then they should be punished by running more trains. As if the fine is going to hurt SMRT, or improve the train system.

Theme SMRT cabins for what better experience?

Reference: Buskers, themed cabins for a better MRT experience: LTA

Talk about visual noise. I still remember the horrendous Dim Sum Dollies jingle. Why not just keep it simple, LTA, and focus on the service of actually bringing people from one place to another?

So unless your themed cabin is some incredible idea, please, don't.

You know every time I want to look at how minutes there are to the next train coming, and I see an ad of some movie trailer? Do you think that makes my journeys more or less harried?

Little to be desired from SMRT management

Two train disruption in two days. Each took a few hours to resolve. Hundreds of thousands of commuters were affected. While you can refund people back their money, you can't refund them back their time.

Trains can break down. It inevitable, sometimes.

What's appalling is how SMRT handled the situation. They had no contingency plans for such a large scale disruption. To top that off, they can't even react to the situation properly.

The first thing you should do during disruption is to communicate to people. If it's going to be a long delay, communicate often every 5-10 minutes. These are really basic.

If their PR is so bad, then don't hold a press conference to make a fool of themselves. Find out what really happened so you can answer the grilling questions.

And then there's the "Income Opportunity" message sent out to taxi drivers. That's just stupid. Any person with basic comprehension skills will know that's going to be insensitive.

On the person who broke the train window to get ventilation, SMRT has decided not to take the case up. It should be the other way round. Commuters should take action against SMRT for endangering their lives. Ventilation even on working trains can be quite bad on some days because there are just so many people. I can't even imagine what it's like to be packed in a train with no ventilation.

All these just goes to show that the management is only good when nothing happens. When nothing happens, any person can run SMRT. It's how you react to unexpected situations that counts. And now we know exactly how capable they are in this regard. Incapable.

I've never understood why the government themselves don't run public transport. It's a public good — if you remove it, the country grinds to a halt. So why run it as a for-profit corporation?

And of the recent SMRT & Comfort price hike, wait, aren't they a cartel - not in the strictest sense - but they are behaving like one in public. When you raise prices, your competitor also raise prices. So where are the market forces? They can basically raise prices whenever they feel like it, and the public won't be able to do anything — since they are the only taxi providers, they can't take other transport unless they want bus or train.

I do understand that taxi drivers need that fare hike to maintain their living though — everyone's complaining about cost of living.

Reference:
Second train disruption in two days draws ire
As criticism mounts, SMRT explains
SMRT should be surrendered to a new Statutory Board
Public inquiry to look into MRT disruptions: PM Lee
Disruption on North-South line enrages rush hour commuters

Thai Girl should get compensated

Source:

• Thai teen’s family sues SMRT for S$3.4 million
• Thai girl receives S$250,000 donation from S’pore Red Cross

I've read some of the comments from readers on the Thai family suing SMRT. Some are pretty amusing. Just from reading the comments, you can tell who has knowledge of the law, and who are arguing based on their common sense.

So the question really is if SMRT was negligible?

I think so. It's SMRT's property so it's their duty to keep their passengers safe.

Of course, the girl's actions have to be taken into account as well - I'm guessing no one in the right mind will jump onto a track. Well, the video evidence will come in handy.

SMRT has been slow to install those platform gates. I've always been wondering about past suicide cases of people who flung themselves onto the track. SMRT could have installed those gates to make it difficult for people to jump onto the track. It's not as if they don't have the money.

After many years, they finally started putting up the gates, but it seems that they didn't do so at Ang Mo Kio station.

The principle of law is to restore value - to restore the victim into the condition he/she was previously in. If there's one thing I can remember about law - back when I was studying business law in NTU as a course - it's about the very basic principle of law.

SMRT only offered $5000.

The family is only suing for damages amounting to the replacement limbs. They would have sued for real legs if they could.

I think the case will be settled out of court for an undisclosed sum of money.

Seat-less trains

Inspired by The more "spacious" mrt cabins in operation.