Singapore Government Press Release

Media Division, Ministry of Information and The Arts

36th Storey, PSA Building, 460 Alexandra Road, Singapore 119963. Tel: 3757794/5

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Good Morning, Distinguished guests

Ladies and gentlemen

7th of November is a significant day in the history of public transportation in Singapore. Exactly 10 years ago, Singaporeans took their first rides in our MRT trains. Some of us may still remember the excitement we had when we first passed through the faregates. Since that day, our MRT system has transformed the way we live, work and play. To many, it has influenced the choice of locating our home, office and even the way we dress when we commute. Such is the impact of our MRT system on our everyday lives. Without a doubt, the MRT system has become the backbone of our public transportation system, serving close to a million passenger trips a day and contributing to the overall well being of all Singaporeans.

Throughout the 10 years of its operations, the SMRT has performed well and established a good reputation, operating a safe, reliable, efficient and affordable MRT system which the public has come to depend on. Over the next decade, we will be expanding the rail network. New lines and MRT stations would be opened between 1999 and 2002 - the Bukit Panjang Light Rapid Transit (LRT), the Changi Extension Line, the North-East Line, the Singapore Polytechnic station and the Sengkang LRT. These will expand the rail network by more than 50 percent, or 45 km, to about 130 km within just five years.

Provide total quality service delivery

With such rapid expansion of the rail network, ridership will increase and the travel pattern will change. Naturally, passengers’ expectations will rise as they get used to the higher standards provided. As a service provider, the SMRT has to prepare itself to meet and even surpass the ever-rising expectations for its services from commuters.

How should the SMRT do it? For a start, the SMRT should have the mindset of a service provider as oppose to that of a transport operator. The SMRT has done well in running and maintaining the MRT system in tip-top conditions. It has emphasised quality service. It has to now go further and look at the total package of service delivery. This means looking at the entire journey experienced by passengers from origination to destination. This total service approach should apply both to normal commuting circumstances as well as in times of unforeseen service conditions and emergency.

In this regard, the train service disruption incident on 9 Oct 97 holds many important lessons for the SMRT. Train service on the North-South Line was disrupted because of a derailment of a maintenance works train. The SMRT acted immediately to re-route train services, activate buses, inform the public and resume train service as soon as possible without compromising on safety. But the incident has taught the SMRT that as a total quality service provider, it could have done more to take further care of its customers. For example, first, timely information and advice to the public should have been disseminated so that passengers could decide early to take alternative modes of transport. This would have reduced the number of affected passengers. Second, on-site customer services could have been offered at both the disrupted and upstream stations to advise passengers of other travel alternatives and to prevent the problems from building up at the disrupted station. Third, the SMRT could have arranged for better crowd and traffic control by soliciting help from other agencies such as the police.

On 28 Oct 97, another incident occurred which, though not as serious as the earlier one, nevertheless caused many people to be late for work and school when the train service was delayed by about 50 minutes. Here again, the SMRT should have kept the public informed of the incident and the expected time of resumption of service early through radio.

Any disruption is a cause for concern. But unfortunately they can occur even in the best systems in the world. In this regard, our system compares favourably with the best in the world. But when they do occur, we must be able to manage the situation so as to minimise the inconvenience caused to commuters. In this respect, there are many lessons that still have to be learnt. SMRT must do its utmost to prevent a recurrence as well as to review its contingency plan to deal with any emergencies. This is part and parcel of providing quality service.

Customer charter to meet expectations

To do so, it is important for the SMRT to understand the expectations of its passengers. One key step to do this is for the SMRT to publish a Customer Charter as a "report card" to demonstrate its yearly performance against the commitments made to the passengers. In this respect, I am very pleased to see that the SMRT has taken the initiative to launch a Customer Charter and pledge its firm commitment to deliver a high quality service for its passengers on its 10th anniversary today. Under the Charter, the SMRT pledges to work towards maintaining and even surpassing the performance standards set by the Land Transport Authority, which regulates the service quality of the MRT system.

The standards are comparable to the best practices around the world and cover key aspects of service and system performances in train schedule adherence, train service availability, key equipment and facilities like ticket vending machines, ticket gates, escalators and train signalling system.

Despite the 2 recent incidents, the SMRT has been able to meet these standards, taking its whole year performance into account. However, these standards cannot capture the inconvenience and anxieties experienced by individual passengers, especially when there is a major disruption of service affecting a large number of people. MINCOM has therefore asked LTA to review the existing standards and see how they can be tightened. Not only must we be concerned about the frequency of disruption, we must also be concerned about the scale of the disruption - the duration, the number of people affected and how they are taken care of.

On the other hand, no performance measurements can substitute for the actual service delivery experienced by the individual passenger. Therefore, passenger participation is also an important factor for the success of the Charter. I would like here to encourage passengers to give their full support by actively providing feedback to the SMRT and LTA on ways to further improve its service. SMRT has set up feedback and information counters at all MRT stations where public feedback forms are easily available.

In the Charter, the SMRT also pledges to constantly improve and upgrade station facilities and train systems in the years to come. The commitments made have taken into account the feedback obtained from the regular passenger surveys undertaken by SMRT. Ultimately, passengers stand to gain from a service-oriented and committed SMRT.

Service improvement initiative - modification to train saloon

Aside from Customer Charter, another way to demonstrate quality service delivery is to seek ways and ideas to continuously improve the service offerings. One of the service improvement initiative undertaken by the SMRT in partnership with LTA since May this year is the introduction of interior modifications of the train saloon. This has been tried out in one of the trains. The modifications, designed to improve passenger comfort and optimise space capacity in trains particularly during peak hours, include creating more room for passengers to stand away from train doors, installing additional grab poles and providing padded bum rests along various carriages of the trains. I understand from the SMRT that the public survey carried out recently indicated that public response to these modifications on trial has been positive and encouraging.

In view of the good survey results and as a means to evaluate response among a wider pool of passengers, I am pleased to announce that 5 more trains will be modified to incorporate the well received aspects of the earlier trial at a cost of $645,000. In the spirit of partnership, the LTA will fund the cost of modification and the SMRT will ensure that its passengers will benefit from it. The first such train has just been put on service early last week. The others will be progressively introduced by January next year. Again both the SMRT and LTA will monitor the performance of such modifications and if proven acceptable, the well received aspects of the modifications could be incorporated in the new trains for the Changi Extension Line and the North-East Line which are under construction by LTA. The SMRT may also consider making suitable modification to the existing fleet which is scheduled for mid-life overhaul in year 2002.

On this note, I wish the SMRT every success in its launch of the Customer Charter and its endeavours to provide a high level of service for customers. Given its firm commitment and track service records over the last ten years, I am confident that the SMRT will deliver on its promises.

Thank you.