WE THANK Mr Krishnan Muralidharan for his Forum Online letter,
'The train squeeze out West, (May 8) and suggestions to ease
congestion during peak hour
During the morning peak period, SMRT operates some north-bound
train services that travel to Jurong East interchange station and
continue on to the east-bound towards Pasir Ris.
Many passengers take these trains as they connect to the city
directly without any transfers. Should Mr Muralidharan find it
difficult to board the train, he may wish to consider boarding at a
less crowded area of the platform, or wait for the next train,
which runs at an average frequency of about three minutes.
With regard to the suggestion to skip Jurong East station, we
will not be implementing it as this would inconvenience passengers
at the station and within the train who wish to board and alight
respectively at Jurong East.
The writer also suggested that the direct train service be
extended in the reverse direction during evening peak hours. We
would like to clarify that this would require the west-bound train
from Pasir Ris to use the middle track at Jurong East interchange
station.
As there is only one track available, the track would have to
accommodate trains that are entering from the depot, as well as
north-bound trains that use the middle track to turn around for
south-bound service. It is therefore not feasible to implement this
direct service during evening peak.
Mr Muralidharan commented that the trains arrive at different
frequencies. This is because north-bound train services that
continue on the east-bound share the same platform at Jurong East
interchange station with east-bound trains coming from Joo Koon
station. Due to the use of a common platform, train frequencies are
planned to ensure optimal use of the platform.
As for synchronising different-direction-bound train services at
Jurong East interchange station, this is not always possible as the
train services operate at different frequencies.
During peak period, the North-South Line at Jurong East
interchange station can support a train frequency of only three and
a half minutes, while the East-West line operates at a frequency of
about two minutes. This is due to infrastructural constraints at
the station.
The situation will improve with the construction of an
additional station platform and railway track by the Land Transport
Authority, which will be completed by 2012. This, together with the
delivery of 17 additional trains, will give us the flexibility to
increase train trips on the existing lines.
Lastly, we wish to share that more than half of our trains have
been upgraded since 2006. In these upgraded trains, the train cars
contain two rows of overhead horizontal handrails with hand straps
placed along each row. There are also vertical handrails installed
near the train doors and seven three-way grab poles in each car for
passengers to hold on to.
Nicole Batchelor (Ms)
Manager, Corporate Marketing and
Communications
SMRT
Corporation