Singaporeans dismayed with SMRT CEO’s reply on train overcrowding

In the Sunday Times report of 27 June 2010 “SMRT: Tighter security will not mean higher fare”, SMRT CEO Saw Phaik Hwa was reported to have said: “People can board the trains – it is whether they choose to.” She also claimed that even at its most crowded, a SMRT train carries 1,400 passengers, which is lower than its crush load of 2,000 passengers.

A dismayed Singaporean Chia Ser Huei wrote in to the Straits Times Forum to question Ms Saw’s unhelpful response to the question of overcrowding. While the fact is that there are many stations where passengers are unable to board the trains at all during peak hours, Ms Saw is sticking to SMRT’s oft-stated view that passenger numbers are acceptable.

It is not a matter of choice, but whether commuters can get in without the train doors closing on them. As it is, passengers have to frequently skip an overcrowded train several times before finding one with standing space. Tempers flares are not uncommon among commuters at these times.

In addition, it is misleading to cite passenger load figures in other cities to justify SMRT’s train load figures and attempt to close the matter. For instance, trains in Hong Kong are more spacious and have more carriages than SMRT trains. Ms Saw’s comments seem to show her disinterest in transit operations or she thinks that Singaporeans can easily be fooled.

Many Singaporeans have complained that the frequency of MRT trains has dropped after the CEO joined SMRT in 2003. In the past, passengers never had to wait more than 3-4 mins for a train. The train frequency for off-peak hours is now 7-8 mins, and this is even so in the weekday evenings and weekends whereby the trains are packed.

Ms Saw has been credited with the rental of MRT station space to retailers to boost the SMRT’s non-transit income. Under her, SMRT reconfigured MRT station space to be rented to retailers. The Malaysia-born Singapore Permanent Resident was previously with retail chain DFS until she was retrenched by the company in 2002.

Ms Saw was paid $1.67 million in 2009, making her the highest-paid CEO that SMRT Corp has ever employed. Excluding share options, Ms Saw’s package last year came up to $1.43 million. Her deputy, Mr Yeo Meng Hin, who worked under Ms Saw at DFS and joined the company together with her in 2003, took home $970 thousand.

Compared to the year before, Ms Saw’s package was 7.1 per cent higher while Mr Yeo’s grew by 13.3 per cent. This outstripped the 6.3 per cent growth in SMRT’s total wage bill over the same period.

It would appear that with its monopolistic power arising from the lack of direct competition from other transport operators, SMRT does not need to worry about the welfare of its transit customers, and just focus on cutting cost on its transit operations.