11/24/2007

Hongkong MTR efficiency and cheap

Liew Kai Khiun praised the efficiency and cheaper fare of the HK MTR compares to our MRT. Its frequency is 1-2 min against our 5-8 min, its clean and working airconditioning and other facilities. And best, when they merged the Kowloon Canton Railway Corporation with the MTR Corporation, they immediately passed the savings to the commuters by shaving off the fare from 5-10 per cent. Reducing of fares is something unbelieveable in this island. It cannot be done and sinful not to continue to reap the windfall from the commuters. And the saying goes. If you want good service, prepare to pay more. And the commuters are paying more every year while the service standard is still at a standstill. Diminishing returns or it has reached a point where nothing can be improved? Or it is just like the congestion in the express ways. Keep paying and paying and the traffic jams will not go away.

9 comments:

Speedwing said...

Hi Redbean, MRT services in Singapore is one of the best I have traveled in. Costwise, if compared to the fares of London Underground, MRT is very cheap. I guess it must also be relative to the average per capita income of Singaporeans. I have always considered my $1.85 to the city as very cheap. However, most journey I have to stand most of or all the way. Maybe increasing the frequency of trains would help.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

cheap or expensive is relative. yes it is very cheap to me if i have to drive into the city. it will cost me $500 to $600 just to enjoy the comfort of a private transport. Using the MRT means $50 to $60. Yes very cheap.

But to the workers and cleaners, taking the MRT to work is causing them a bomb.

increasing the frequency is using and helpful. but when the mentality is not public service but profits, you bet, all the numbers will be crunched to see if it means profit sense to do that. they may even cut down the frequency to increase profit one day.

their standard of efficiency and world class is a sardine pack mrt just like tokyo. they want to attain that standard to boast that they are at par with tokyo.

Speedwing said...

I agree, in any form of public service, when the quest for profit outweighs the sense of responsibility, then something must give. If you people feel so strongly about it, why was "public transport" allowed to be privatised in the first place??

Anonymous said...

With the excepton of Hong Kong (maybe Tokyo, but haven't been there), Singapore does boast one of the best public transport systems.

So shut up.

Anonymous said...

Redbean you have been told to shut up.

Anonymous said...

I hear and read a lot of people comparing our transport system against this country and that country. This comparison is basically flawed, inconsistent and can be manipulated to suit own's stand e.g compared against India or Malaysia, we're so much better off, even world class; against Tokyo or Hong Kong, not so good...etc.

I think what matters should be what the USERS (i.e. S'pore Residents who use them regularly) think. If it's really that good, there would NOT be many complaints. Unfortunately, the reverse appears to be so.

Frankly, I don't hear many close Hong Kong friends complain about their HK transport system.

As for the 'annonymous' who asks Redbean to shut up, why don't you just get out of this blog if you're so irked??

We're all sharing our opinions with hopefully DO the right thing to improve our own lot.

Anonymous said...

Speedwing said...
I agree, in any form of public service, when the quest for profit outweighs the sense of responsibility, then something must give. If you people feel so strongly about it, why was "public transport" allowed to be privatised in the first place??

November 24, 2007 10:24 AM



what talking this bloke huh, so jilat like that?

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

when singaporeans are so uptight that when they came face to face with a voice that disagree, the only thing they can said is 'shut up', then we are in a state of decline.

shut up and everything will be ok akan the three monkeys. se no evil, hear no evil, say no evil.

god better bless singapore.

Anonymous said...

Hi Speedwing, don't always compare asia with europe, their wages is so much different from us .Asia should compare within asia country (like Hong kong, korea or Thailand etc.) interm of cost of living, wages, wellfare, infratructure & leaders efficiency.
To you $1.85 maybe very Cheap but have you added the other transfer costs like majorities have to take buses then MRT then change to bus again before they can reach their workplace or destination. This total cost may reache as high as $3 to $4++ & haven't count the return trip so one day transport cost will sum up to around $6 to $8++. So are you still said our transportation is cheap or rather self-claimed world class transport with waiting 5 to 12mins or more & most of the times we cummuters have to corporated with smrt as the train will terminated(Jurong East, chu cho kang, yishun, ang mo kio etc.)at certain station instead of the service industry transport company put more trains on trail to make it more efficiency yet they expected we customer or cummuter to corporated with them to make their worst class transport to world class transport, what the government monoply service provider we have in this self claimed world class nation.