Bishan MRT Circle Line 'human flood' photo sparks buzz
A photo depicting the morning rush hour traffic at the Bishan MRT Circle Line interchange is making waves online, with many surprised at the sheer volume of traffic.
The above photo, which was taken at 8am on Friday morning, shows queues of up to 7-8 commuters deep on both sides of the passenger platform doors in the direction of CBD area and Promenade station.
[SLIDESHOW: New Circle Line MRT stations]
Within two hours of being posted on Yahoo! Singapore's Facebook wall, it drew over 100 comments and "shares".
Most expressed their surprise ("scary", "packed like sardines", "this is madness!") at the peak hour congestion and if SMRT could handle the load.
In order to relieve the peak hour "big squeeze", some readers suggested companies look into flexible working times while others took aim at the foreign worker population, saying they were to blame for the overcongestion.
Another Yahoo! reader Jimmy Lee commented, "What an unbelievable sight to see, looks like the Circle Lines are now flooded with human beings. How can you board a train in this situation?"
But another reader Nosey47 said the peak hour situation was comparable to other cities like Hong Kong and Tokyo.
"If this situation is scary, then those in Japan and Hong Kong will be many many time scarier. Please do not always use foreign talent as a reason," he wrote.
Earlier this week on Tuesday, SMRT adjusted waiting times on the Circle Line to reduce the average waiting time of four minutes during evening peak hours.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that since the full 28-station Circle Line opened last Saturday, many commuters who previously took the North-South Lines had transferred to using the Circle Line, using the Buona Vista, Bishan, Serangoon and Paya Lebar as interchange stations.
An SMRT spokesman told The Straits Times earlier this week: "We have been closely monitoring the passenger flow and travel patterns at all the stations along the Circle Line since the start of the work week.
"As part of our review of the peak-hour train service arrangements, we are exploring various computations to run our trains to serve this demand."
The final 12 stations of the 28-station Circle Line opened last Saturday.
SMRT executive vice-president of trains Khoo Hean Siang has said ridership is expected to jump by 30 per cent in the next few months, up from a daily average of 230,000 on weekdays and 150,000 on weekends.
Earlier this month, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said he expected the launch of the full Circle Line would ease peak hour overcrowding on trains.
Related articles
Is this the future of Singapore's MRT network?
Full Circle Line launch will ease train overcrowding: Minister
