SINGAPORE: The Transport Ministry has announced further moves to ease the load on the public transport system.
From 13 March, SMRT will increase MRT train services by adding another 420 train trips per week on the North-South-East-West Line (NSEWL).
About a week later, SBS Transit will start adding another 170 train trips per week during the morning and evening peaks, as well as off-peak hours, on the North-East Line (NEL).
Transport Minister Raymond Lim said this during the parliamentary debate on the budget for his ministry on Tuesday.
"There is more good news for commuters. In the past, SMRT and SBS Transit ran extended last train services to 2am on the eves of three holidays – Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year. Both public transport operators will henceforth extend the last train to 12:30am at city stations on the eves of all other Public Holidays as well," said Mr Lim.
Authorities have also been carrying out improvement works, such as amending the signalling systems on the North-South-East-West Lines, which will be completed in 2015, as well as the Jurong East Modification Project (JEMP).
The JEMP involves the building of a new platform and rail track, which will allow for another 22 more trains onto the system when completed.
Authorities have also been extending existing MRT lines while building new ones like the Downtown Line.
"We'll open the new lines in phases, rather than when they are fully completed. This approach ensures that commuters will be able to take advantage of the speed and reliability of rail travel earlier. We will be opening a section of rail every year for the next six years," said Mr Lim.
These are:
· Circle Line extension from Promenade to Marina Bay in 2012
· Downtown Line Stage 1 from Bugis to Chinatown in 2013
· North South Line extension from Marina Bay to Marina Pier in 2014
· Downtown Line Stage 2 from Bugis to Bukit Panjang in 2015
· Tuas extension in 2016
· Downtown Line Stage 3 from Chinatown to Singapore Expo in 2017
For a start, Stages 4 and 5 of the Circle Line will open by October this year. This will enhance accessibility for an estimated 200,000 residents, and 120,000 workers who live or work along the section of the line from Marymount to Harbourfront Stations.
But Bukit Brown station, located near Jalan Mashor and placed between Caldecott and Botanic Gardens Stations, will only open when the area is more developed.
It was the same situation for Woodleigh MRT Station, which stayed shut when the North East Line started running about eight years ago. But with a new international school and condominium projects coming up nearby, the MRT station along Upper Serangoon Road will finally open on 20 June.
June will also see the opening of Damai Station along the Punggol LRT Line.
Moving on to bus services, the number of buses will also be increased to cut over-crowding during peak hours.
Operators SBS Transit and SMRT will add 400 more buses this year including double-decker ones. Bus routes will also be tweaked further to meet demand.
Bus bays at 30 crowded stops will also be lengthened to accommodate more buses.
The authorities will also build more transport hubs that have MRT stations, bus interchanges and shops under one roof.
The new ones will be at Yishun, Hougang Central and Bukit Panjang, on top of the 10 previously announced in the Land Transport Masterplan.
In the last two years, the number of public transport commuters rose from 4.9 million to 5.5 million.
Some felt this came at the expense of comfort and service reliability. Both indicators saw a drop in the latest customer satisfaction survey conducted by SIM University (UniSIM).
"Comfort" also scored the second lowest among the 3,100 commuters polled, with 83.1 percent satisfied. While waiting time posted the biggest improvement among other indicators, it remains commuters' biggest gripe.
About 70.7% polled said they were satisfied with the length of time they had to wait, the lowest-ranked indicator. But it saw an increase of about seven points from two years ago.
Overall, respondents said they were most satisfied with the accessibility of train stations and bus stops, with over 91% giving it the thumbs-up.
