Firstly, it exposed the inadequacy in SMRT's contingency plan when such a crisis occurred. My friend who lived in Pasir Ris took almost two hours to reach Buona Vista station.

This is because he tried to take the shuttle bus to Tanah Merah station. However, it would be definitely faster should he take a direct bus service.

Though I live in Clementi, I was affected seriously too. As the train arrival was delayed, the platform was so packed that people stood beyond the yellow line. And no staff was seen on the platform doing crowd control. This definitely shows the poor planning on SMRT's part.

Secondly, this also shows the weakness in our train network. With no new train line announced in the next five years, it can be immediately seen that there are insufficient train services plying along the East-West line. This is an important line which the majority of the train passengers have to take because it passes by Tanjong Pagar, Bugis, Jurong (NTU, industrial estates). With this line extending further west by 2009, we can see that it is being over-stretched. In fact, Clementi residents find it especially hard to squeeze into the trains during the morning peak hours.

I hope the authorities and SMRT can work out concrete plans to handle train crises better and increase the available train capacity. The current train network will not be able to take more passengers when the Circle Line opens.

Lim Boon Wah