Singapore MRT: 20 years back

I have written many posts on the future of Singapore's transport system, and I think it is about time to write about the past.  Singapore's MRT system is relatively new, and only has a 23-year history.

Back in 1987, Singapore introduced the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), and in 1990, the system was completed.  The system only had three lines, of which the Choa Chu Kang Line and the North Line were connected to form what we know today as the North-South Line.

MRT map 1987-1996

The MRT consisted of 42 stations, connecting the island from the West, North, and East.  The MRTs today still look about the same as they were then.

After good reaction to the new MRT lines, many more lines were built, for example the Woodlands Extension in 1996 and the Changi Airport Extension in 2002.

Since then, all new MRT lines were built underground to save land space and to prevent it from being an eyesore.

New lines like the North East Line and Circle line were planned and built in the years that followed.  The North East Line, completed in 2003, is the world's first fully automatic driverless underground line.  The Circle Line, to be completed in 2011, will be second when completed.

As Singapore's MRT progresses on, it would continually expand.

Personal Rapid Transit (PRT)?

Personal Rapid Transit or PRT is a relatively new concept that few places have installed.  Morgantown, West Virginia, USA is the only city with operational PRT system.  PRT can be seen as a taxi system on tracks.  Each PRT station has its own track, separate from the main track, so the other PRT vehicles can bypass the station, as shown:

PRT has many benefits over other forms of transport:

• Faster (travels non-stop to destination)
• 100% on-demand service
• Environmentally green
• Safe (Computer controlled)
• Unworthy as a terrorist target

As such, there are ten more systems that are in test, under construction, or being proposed.

There is also one city that has plans for a full PRT system throughout the city.  Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates is a future city to be completed in 2014.  By 2009, part of the city was already liveable.  The city is planning to build a full PRT system by 2012 which will replace roads in the city.  The following is a rendering of Masdar City:

Though PRT is relatively new, it seens to by a goof option as some cities like Masdar City has adopted the idea and even banned automobiles for PRT.

As Singapore is a highly populated city, PRT would probably be a good option for Singapore.  Perhaps in 2040, PRT would replace roads in Singapore?

Future Singapore MRT?

I recently presented my Geography ACE on Singapore's transport.  According to Newsweek, Singapore has one of the best infrastructures in the world.  As for transport infrastructure, the main form of public transport is buses currently, but the government wants to make the main form of public transport the MRT in 20 years time.  The MRT is not slowed by large crowds unlike buses, and the MRT is much faster than even cars.  As such, Singapore's MRT system is set to be doubled by 2020, and quadruple to 540km in 2030 – that's 130km longer than the London Underground!  This is a speculative Singapore MRT map that I found on the web.

Distance-Based Transport Fares

From July this year, the public transport fares will be adjusted to a totally distance-based fare system. It means that commuters pay the same price regardless of the number of transfers made (up to 5 transfers in 45 minutes). This will mean good news for 63% of the people, who make transfers daily. Since there is no “transfer penalty”, they will pay less. 34% of the commuters, mostly taking long single-trip buses, will pay more. It is definitely good to remove the transfer penalty, but should those who do not make transfers be penalised? I feel that the bus companies benefitting just because people must transfer is not very right. I support the new fare system, but I fell that the non-transferring commuters paying more could be settled better, especially as the world emerges from a recession.

Circle Line

Circle Line Stage 1 & 2 newly opened on 17^th April 2010. Since then, a new bridge bypassing the city has been created, linking Serangoon to Paya Lebar in just ten minutes, as well as many new stations in southeastern Singapore. It is definitely a good option for people travelling from the north to the east.

There are also future plans to make the Circle Line a “full circle”, by linking the Circle Line Extention at Marina Bay to Habourfront. By doing so, people travelling from the West Coast to the East Coast can take the Circle Line straight through the downtown area. Without this, commuters would have to take Circle Line to Harbourfront, then North-East Line to Dhoby Ghaut, then Circle Line again to the southeast. The 4km extention will no doubt save these commuters a lot of time.

However, the main reason for postponement is because it is unsure whether there will be enough people travelling between the southwest and southeast to make the extention cost-effective.

MRT – the only way

Singapore has a limited land space and a growing population. A growing population means more people needing to get from point A to point B. More people needing to get from point A to point B means more congested roads. The government cannot keep on building new roads because Singapore has limited space.

After the "Great MRT Debate" in the 1980s, it was decided that the MRT was to be built. Many people had disagreed, though. Is the MRT the only solution? The are estimation problems like the already opened Circle Line Stage 3, which served much less people than expected. Most of the jams are in the morning and evening peak hours, so if train lines were built, they would be full during the rush hours but idle and wasting electricity at the other times of day, thus inefficient.


Should the government continue developing Singapore's rail network?

Inconveniences Caused by the Construction of Circle Line

Stages 1, 2 and 3 of the Circle Line are completed. It is only Stages 4 and 5 that are left.

Most of the cunstruction are not very disruptive, but some are rather messy. For example, the Farrer Road station. It is situated right under the junction of Farrer Road and Empress Road. Farrer Road is part of the Outer Ring Road System (ORRS) and is a major road, usually conjested during the peak hours.

One thing good about construction in Singapore is that roads are rarely closed during construction. The area surrounding the junction of Farrer Road and Empress Road is already built up and there is little free space. However, the junction kept shifting location from day to day, depending on the construction that needs to be done, but the road was never closed.

Similarly for the Holland Village station, no roads there were closed and the configuration was kept, though the roads were always realigned.

Jams…Jams…JAMS!

It's Chinese New Year again and the annual visiting time is here again. Expressways are jammed with traffic flowing at 5km/h at some exits like PIE→Bedok exit. Accidents are also more common during this season because many of the drivers are not seasoned.

On the CTE(City) around Ang Mo Kio, there was a minor jam. However, on weekday nights, there is always an even larger jam on the CTE(SLE) than last over 10pm. The buses, like 167 and 980, which run from the CBD to Sembawang, parallel to the CTE, are also so packed that one could not get on even on a popular transfer stop, Macritchie Reservoir.

I understand that there are extra lanes under construction on the CTE, but the buses off the expressway only pass by at almost once every half an hour. Definitely, something can be done about it. If it is only in a portion of the route that the bus is full, a short service can be implemented. Nobody likes to have sat waiting for the bus for so long, and have got no guarantee that he/she con board the next bus.

The Government is doing something… but is it enough?

Circle Line Opening

Recently, Circle Line stage 1 & 2 was announced to be opened on April 17 this year. The rest will open in 2011. The Circle Line project, which started in 2003, will take 8 years in total to complete and be usable. Compared to the North East Line which was constructed from 1997 to 2003, which is in many ways similar to the Circle Line, the Circle Line took 33% more time to build. Most of the extra time can be attributed to the Nicoll Highway Crash in April 2004, which called for a rebuilding on many other Circle Line stations.  It was solely a "man-made" problem, not a natural event or something that occurred by chance. Has irresponsibility gone higher with time?
Circle Line is a orbital line which follows quite closely the Outer Ring Road System (ORRS). It is almost perpedicular to the lines that it intersects, as such bypass the city. Before this is opened, passengers transferring to another line need to transfer in the city.

To Start Off…

The private transport sector (car and taxi) in Singapore is most probably sufficient for a city like Singapore, or maybe too much for a small island. I had been stuck in many traffic jams in which vehicles travelled at 1km/h or less. There are already enough empty cabs on the roads so a request for a seventh taxi company was turned down.

Though the private transport is good enough, I feel that the public transport sector (bus and trains) is somewhat lacking. For those who take the bus to school on a daily basis, I am sure that there are some occasions in which the bus is too packed to board. To give an example, I can take bus service no. 852 to school from Macritchie Reservoir. Since Macritchie Reservoir is an "interchange" stop – where four different roads meet – there are usually people alighting, which frees space to board. Though I have been sometimes unable to board, I am lucky to have two other bus services – 74, and the always unfilled 157 – which I can take. When I take service 852, I can see the bus captain shaking his hand, as a sign that there is no space available, as he passes the grouchy and sleepy passengers at the bus stops.

What can those grouchy and sleepy passengers do but wait for the next bus to arrive? Nothing. And even so, is there assurance that there will be free space? No. Service 852 comes at intervals of about 15 minutes, which means that those unable to board would have to wait for – 30 – or more – minutes… just for a ten-minute ride? I don't see why nothing is done since this happens so frequently (At least once a week). If it is only this leg of the service that is so crowded, then why not make a separate short service (i.e. Svc 852A from Ang Mo Kio to Bukit Timah Road)? A more severe example is 980 towards Sembawang at around 10p.m.. This service comes every 25 minutes at that time. It is either full or almost full.

MRTs are also very crowded such that a person in Jurong East need to take the train in the opposite direction to the end stop in order to get a place on board. I understand that there are many proposed lines coming up like the Circle Line, Downtown Line, Thomson Line and Eastern Region Line. This might be a long term solution, but it would take about ten years from now to get things up and ready. A short term solution is needed.