The Kent Ridge Common, 6 May 2009, Kelvin Teo
SINGAPORE - The Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT) announced that train frequency will be reduced by 30% when Singapore’s pandemic alert levels hit red. The highlighted reason was due to the division of SMRT’s service staff into two teams to fight the pandemic.
One can hardly see the rationale behind such a reasoning. A one-third reduction in train frequency will see a rise in crowd numbers and waiting times at the MRT stations. One contagious carrier can easily spread the flu virus in such a setting. The capacity of the train will be overloaded, and it also turns the train into a spreading ground for the virus. Both the MRT stations and trains will become hot spots of viral infection!
Read More
