SINGAPORE — The two high-profile rail incidents last November have eroded commuters’ confidence in the country’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system, surveys conducted by the Public Transport Council (PTC) found.

More than half the commuters surveyed said they are dissatisfied with the rail operators’ disruption management, especially on the speed and clarity of the information transmitted whenever there is a service disruption.

These are findings from a survey conducted with 5,000 commuters in July and August last year, and at least 3,000 commuters months later in October and November after the Bishan MRT track flooding and the Joo Koon collision incidents took place.

The findings were included in a wide-ranging report that also included 21 recommendations announced by the council on Thursday (Jan 25), under its second advisory report to improve the public transport experience.

On a 10-point scale, there is a drop in the number of commuters believing that the Republic’s rail operators are doing their best to provide them with good service, going down from 7.89 to 6.69.

There is also a 1.05-point drop — from 7.75 to 6.70 — in the number of commuters who believe the rail operators and the Government are doing their best to improve their journey experience.

Commuters polled after the two episodes still believed SMRT is providing a good rail service, however, scoring them 6.26 out of 10. Comparatively, the public expressed more trust in the Government in delivering a good public transport system with a score of 6.83.

Sharing the findings on Thursday (Jan 25), the PTC wrote in their second advisory report to Minister for Transport Khaw Boon Wan that the commuters’ feedback showed that they were “confident that the Government was providing a good rail system” and are “aware of ongoing rail works to enhance rail reliability, comfort, safety, accessibility and reach”.

“Far from being cantankerous, (we found that) Singapore commuters are by and large reasonable, responsive, resilient and appreciative,” said PTC chairman Richard Magnus.

Responding to the PTC survey findings, SMRT president and group chief executive Desmond Kuek said the rail operator has to continue its work on rebuilding commuters’ trust and confidence.

“This is, unfortunately, sometimes affected by incidents that have taken place in the recent memory of our commuters,” he told reporters on Thursday at the launch of a programme to equip frontline SMRT employees with skills to better help commuters with special needs.

“But we also take heart from the Public Transport Council survey … that (commuters) are by and large satisfied with the service that SMRT provides and they are encouraged by the effort that our staff put in to continue to make every effort to improve. And I’m very confident that we will, in time, rebuild that trust and confidence.”

Zooming in on the Bukit Panjang Light Rail Transit (LRT) system, the PTC found that commuters still “value” the network, even though they grouse about the frequent disruptions there.

Having engaged more than 200 commuters from all 14 of its stations, Mr Magnus noted that although there are “pain points, it is not altogether a broken system”, as “hoards” rely on the network, noting that the LTA is calling for a tender in order to provide an overhaul of the LRT system.

Based on these feedback, the PTC in the advisory report did not mention about how rail operators can improve reliability or how they can restore commuter confidence. Instead, they gave four recommendations on how operators can improve the comfort, customer service, cleanliness and ease of use at the rail networks.

In improving ease, greater effort should be made to ensure the clarity of the announcements in trains that do not feature an information panel with lights indicating the next stop, they pointed out. Staff members should also be trained to speak loudly and clearly over the public announcement system, the PTC said.

And in terms of comfort, they recommended for operators to deepen the training of service ambassadors to help ease crowding around train cabin doors, so there is space for other commuters to board during peak periods.

They also said operators should enforce more consistent customer service standards, and give more attention to the keeping the cleanliness of trains, stations and amenities.

The PTC also observed that commuters are wary of getting stuck in closing train doors, citing one commuter in his 50s who gave his feedback that “sometimes the door closes very fast”.

As such, the PTC said rail operators should improve the consistency of the interval between the audio chime and when the train door closes, so commuters have a clearer indication of when the doors would actually close.

Pointing out that some new trains already incorporated a countdown timer inside the cabin before the door starts to close, the PTC said that the same information can be displayed outside the cabin, on display panels at the platforms. These countdown indicators are in place in Sydney.

Among the recommendations announced by PTC include proposals to make bus and train commutes smoother and more accessible for those with special needs.

For example, the PTC proposed the development of an app that provides information on rail disruptions to hearing-impaired commuters, as well as for bus drivers to make arrival announcements at the bus stops to help visually impaired commuters know which bus has arrived. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KENNETH CHENG