<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Steps afoot to speed up train frequency
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to the letter by Mr Nicholas Joshua Law, 'Why are trains faster in Paris, Tokyo, HK?' (April 23).
Our train services are planned based on travel demand, carrying capacity of trains, time required for passengers to alight and board at each station, and other considerations such as the need to maintain a safe distance between trains running in the same direction on a track.
In the past two years, SMRT has added about 1,000 train trips per week during peak and off-peak hours on both the East-West and North-South lines. This has resulted in higher train frequencies and shorter waiting times for commuters. At selected stretches during peak period, our train frequency is at the system limit of two minutes.
While SMRT is operating at the best possible train service frequency allowed by the system, certain infrastructural factors, such as the lack of quadruple tracks and few turnaround points that are strategically located, affect train frequency. Quadruple tracks, which are found in other metros, allow train services to arrive faster or simultaneously at two platforms, whereas double tracks, which are used in Singapore, allow only one train to travel along the track while the other moves on another track in the opposite direction. Turnaround points allow a train to make a loop to serve a busier stretch with higher passenger demand instead of running the train along the entire line.
As part of plans to enable faster turnaround of trains and shorter waiting times, a new track alignment and platform is currently being constructed by the Land Transport Authority at Jurong East MRT station, and another 22 new trains will be delivered by end 2012. The completion of the project and the additional trains will give SMRT the flexibility to increase train trips on the existing lines.
We thank Mr Law for his feedback, and assure commuters that SMRT regularly monitors our train services to ensure they operate optimally while meeting commuters' travel demands. Bernadette Low (Ms)
Manager, Corporate Marketing and Communications
SMRT Corporation
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to the letter by Mr Nicholas Joshua Law, 'Why are trains faster in Paris, Tokyo, HK?' (April 23).
Our train services are planned based on travel demand, carrying capacity of trains, time required for passengers to alight and board at each station, and other considerations such as the need to maintain a safe distance between trains running in the same direction on a track.
In the past two years, SMRT has added about 1,000 train trips per week during peak and off-peak hours on both the East-West and North-South lines. This has resulted in higher train frequencies and shorter waiting times for commuters. At selected stretches during peak period, our train frequency is at the system limit of two minutes.
While SMRT is operating at the best possible train service frequency allowed by the system, certain infrastructural factors, such as the lack of quadruple tracks and few turnaround points that are strategically located, affect train frequency. Quadruple tracks, which are found in other metros, allow train services to arrive faster or simultaneously at two platforms, whereas double tracks, which are used in Singapore, allow only one train to travel along the track while the other moves on another track in the opposite direction. Turnaround points allow a train to make a loop to serve a busier stretch with higher passenger demand instead of running the train along the entire line.
As part of plans to enable faster turnaround of trains and shorter waiting times, a new track alignment and platform is currently being constructed by the Land Transport Authority at Jurong East MRT station, and another 22 new trains will be delivered by end 2012. The completion of the project and the additional trains will give SMRT the flexibility to increase train trips on the existing lines.
We thank Mr Law for his feedback, and assure commuters that SMRT regularly monitors our train services to ensure they operate optimally while meeting commuters' travel demands. Bernadette Low (Ms)
Manager, Corporate Marketing and Communications
SMRT Corporation
