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NEL service kept in step with passenger peaks
I REFER to the letter, ‘Increase frequency of trains on North-East Line’ (ST, Nov 17), by Ms Kuah Kar Yoke.

Scheduling of our train services is done based on extensive ground research and feedback from the community. The critical factor is always demand.

Over the years, we have increased the frequency of our train services with the addition of more trains during peak hours. For example, we now run 10 trains between 8.15am and 8.45am, the busiest morning peak period, up from six when the North-East Line (NEL) first started.

Demand during peak hours is also staggered, with more people boarding at certain hours. The service headway, or interval between train arrivals, is also staggered to reflect this.

For example, the headway at Boon Keng Station (south-bound platform) is 7 minutes before 6.40am but reduced to 6.5 minutes between 6.40am and 7.05am. This is further reduced to 5 minutes between 7.05am and 7.40am, 4 minutes between 7.40am and 8am, and 3 minutes between 8am and 8.40am.

Before 6.40am, when service headway is 7 minutes, there is no congestion issue, given that the highest train load at Boon Keng Station then is 480 passengers, far short of the maximum capacity of 1,700 passengers that each train can take.

At its peak, NEL carries about 1,200 passengers per train. While this is still below maximum capacity, the trains may appear fully packed because passengers tend to crowd near the doors. We deploy station staff to divert passengers to the less-congested doorways of other cars.

The impression conveyed in the letter that our train schedules have not been adjusted over the years to take into account the increased population in Punggol and Seng Kang is therefore incorrect.

With regard to Ms Kuah’s suggestion of having women-only carriages, this is not possible, given the design of our trains. Our trains are ‘through trains’ which means that there are no doors between carriages - unlike those in Japan. This makes it impossible to have designated carriages.

We will continue to monitor the travel-demand patterns on NEL and, where appropriate, adjust our frequencies to meet the changing needs of commuters, including deploying more trains where necessary.

We thank Ms Kuah for her feedback.

Tammy Tan (Ms)
Director
Corporate Communications
SBS Transit

The train may appear fully crowded because passengers tend to crowd near the door?
Any Singaporeans who take the train will say otherwise.

We may have good economy, but I don’t think we have the kind of good (don’t even talk about world class) transport system to properly support the workforce.

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