SMRT encourages more schools to charter off-peak trains

Despite drawing some criticism from a recent incident, Singapore train operator SMRT is urging schools to consider chartering of trains during off-peak hours in case they need to move a large number of students around.
 
Its managing director for trains, Lee Ling Wee, took to Facebook on Thursday in a lengthy letter to the public to shed more light on its recent chartering out of five trains to ferry students and staff from the Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) to the National Stadium for a rugby match.
 
“We are grateful that the school informed us beforehand as it gave us time to make the operational scheduling decisions that minimised inconvenience to other commuters along the line,” said Lee, who noted that staff were able to work with the school to transport the 3,000 students and staff smoothly while keeping all stations open to other commuters.
 
He explained that while the current train fleet on the Circle Line is overloaded at morning and evening peak hours, only 20 to 30 per cent of its trains are used for the rest of the day. “We are able to withdraw some trains from service because of low passenger loadings,” he added.
 
“The story may have been different had 3,000 students descended on the Circle Line with no prior notice at the same time without crowd control measures in place, catching commuters and our station staff by surprise,” he continued, adding that normal Circle Line services ran smoothly throughout the charter period for ACS (I). “Prior notice by ACS (I) allowed SMRT to put in place crowd control measures at the two stations as both the school and the destination were close to MRT stations.”
 
Lee also made it a point to mention that SMRT had never sought permission from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) for previous occasions when it chartered trains for “tens of thousands of students from many schools” for the National Education shows in recent years, noting that they “all moved efficiently and safely and without fuss”.
 
“We encourage more schools in the neighbourhoods located close to MRT stations to consider such charters, during off-peak periods, should they see a need to move a large number of students along our network,” he continued. “All things considered, we feel the effort was genuine and worthwhile as it transported a large number of students efficiently and safely.”
 
Earlier this week, the LTA said it was mulling action against the train operator for failing to seek its approval ahead of its train charter for the ACS (I) students, saying SMRT was required in terms of its licence to do so.
 
Responding at that point, SMRT stressed that regular operations were unaffected, and that it would inform the authorities of such arrangements in the future.