SMRT: The SMART Way to Travel?
Recently, I was complained by my boss that I came to work late hence I had made my mind to come to work earlier.
I had officially joined the ranks of 44.9 million riders to squeeze in the morning MRT “Sardine packing” morning rush hour crowd.
One of my blog reader did complained to me that the MRT rides in the morning is getting on the nerves of many and I myself experienced first hand the horribleness of the squeeze.
You are almost expected to miss at least one train to pass by without getting on around 7.40 am to 8.30 am at Bukit Gombak MRT usually because there is this “special” ride that passes through Jurong East MRT without the need to change over.
This is for the convineince of those who wish not to change at Jurong East MRT which contribute to the longer waiting time however it will also means there are many people who target these trains specifically at that particular timing.
I believe even without those “special” train ride, there are many cases of overcrowding in the early morning “rush hour”. It’s getting out of hand and something need to be fixed or we had to change our “habit” of riding mrt like we used to.
Let me list out some of the obvious problems that I had faced…and probably you had too.
- Unable to enter train for at least one time in the morning ride 8am to 8.30am Rush hour
- Unable to get hold of a handle in the middle of the squeezing crowded train, usually the first and the last carriage.
- The annoying switch over “earthquake” when going to Jurong East MRT from Bukit Batok MRT.
Here I will list some tips that I had heard to solve the above problems.
- Ride backwards 2-3 stops behind and then take the MRT forward, this way ensures you a space in the train and may not miss the ride.
- Grab a pole ASAP when you get into the train, if you are sandwiched in between then practice the skateboard skills that you may be interested to get into. Surfing skills counts too.
- If possible lie on any wall on the MRT or grab a pole to reduce the possibility of falling down or “twisting” your ankle during the MRT track switching over.
There are suggestions that I like to make for the SMRT to take note, the first and last carriage of the MRT have some blind spots for everything.
The suggestion is to the first and last carriage is to add poles to connect the middle pole and poles nearest to the MRT driver to form a dimond shape poles so that people in the middle can have options to “secure” themselves in one of the over hanging poles.
The Nort East Line made great signage for approaching Station name on some LED signs at almost all the carriage and is visible clearly, it’s not so at the normal East West Line at the first and last carriage of the MRT.
I sometimes missed the station due to listening to MP3 while riding the station and had to waste time riding the MRT backwards to my desired destination.
Welcome any other feedbacks! 
